"Of course a listed company has to pay a dividend. In the past Sarasin distributed at any one time 50 percent of its profits," Joachim Straehle told the Finanz und Wirtschaft newspaper in an interview published on Saturday.

"The board of directors is responsible for the distribution of profit, but I assume that the dividend policy will not change," Straehle said.

Family-owned Safra agreed to buy Rabobank's majority stake in Sarasin for 1.04 billion Swiss franc ($1.13 billion) last week, ending months of uncertainty.

Sarasin said the bank's board had set up a three-member independent committee led by chairman Christoph Ammann to represent public shareholders.