The Banque Messieurs Rougemont & Hottinguer was launched in Paris by Baron Jean-Conrad Hottinguer in 1786. The bank was located in the Hôtel de Beaupreaux in front of the Banque de France. In 1789, Jean-Conrad Hottinger changed the bank's name to Messieurs Hottinguer & Cie. In 1800, he was appointed regent of the Banque de France. In 1833, Baron Jean–Henri Hottinguer took the helms of Hottingeur & Cie. In 1848, the bank bought Banque Delessert and moved the family home to the Hôtel Hottinguer on rue de la Baume in Paris. In 1866, Baron Rodolphe Hottinguer took over the Hottinger Bank. In 1920, Henry Hottinger took over his father at the head of the group.
International development
In 1981, Baron Henri Hottinger sought to further expand the Hottinger Group by launching operations in London, New York, Nassau and Luxembourg, which were independently capitalised and regulated in their respective jurisdictions by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier in Luxembourg, the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US, and the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK. In 2008, after a tenuous family feud for control of the dynasty's bank, the Baron Henri Hottinger gained control of the group. Between 2009 and 2013, Baron Henri and his sons resigned their executive positions at Hottinger & Cie.
2015 Bankruptcy
In 2013 Hottinger & Partners, a franchise asset management business, was involved in an embezzlement scandal. Fabien Gaglio, a banker with the subsidiary office, confessed in January 2013 to the police he ran a Ponzi scheme on his own terms for 15 years, and stated that he had lost all the proceeds of his scheme. This confession led many of the bank's clients to sue Hottinger & Cie. Gaglio was sentenced to 5 years in a Luxembourg prison and a €150,000 fine. The lack of serious prosecution regarding this affair led many of the bank's unfortunate clients to believe Gaglio had stage-managed his confession to hide a wider scheme. In October 2015, the Finma opened an investigation for bankruptcy on the Zurich-based Hottinger & Cie AG Bank opened since 1968. In 2015, Heritage Bank and Standard Chartered bought assets from the bankrupted Hottinger & Cie. In its capacity as depository, witnessed significant losses. The Swiss division closed its doors in 2015.
Following the death of Baron Henri Hottinger in 2015, his son Frédéric Hottinger inherited the vast majority of his father's estate, in particular Groupe Financière Hottinger & Co.. Upon receiving his inheritance Frédéric Hottinger began merger discussions with Archimedes Private Office, a multi-family office regarded as complementary to the existing Hottinger business. The Financial Conduct Authority approved the merger of Hottinger and Archimedes on 26 July 2016 with Hottinger Group now maintaining offices in London, Dublin, New York and Geneva. The Luxembourg division of Groupe Financière Hottinger & Co was not part of the merger. In 2017, Iteram Investments, the fund management business of Alexandre Col, merged with Hottinger Luxembourg. Frédéric Hottinger remains a shareholder and board member of Iteram Investments. In April 2019, the Hottingter Group launched an art consultancy service, Hottinger Art.
