Swiss banking

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Swiss banking system is one of the most important in the world. His reputation is based on the political and economic stability of Switzerland and the main activity of asset management (English Wealth Management ) and the comparatively conservative and sustainable investment.

Critics accuse the Swiss banking center of facilitating money laundering and tax evasion through Swiss banking secrecy . To counteract this bad reputation, Switzerland passed an anti-money laundering law in 1998. As early as 1991, the banks were obliged by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC) to identify the beneficial owners of the account when opening new accounts and for all existing accounts. Switzerland is listed in third place in the 2020 shadow financial index of the Tax Justice Network . This happened after the banking secrecy for foreign deposits had generally been greatly relaxed in response to foreign pressure.

Significance of the banking industry and the Swiss financial center

The entire financial sector (including insurance) generated 11% of the gross value added in Switzerland in 2009 (CHF 59.1 billion). Of this, the banking sector contributed CHF 35.9 billion to value added, which corresponds to 6.7% of the gross domestic product . The domestic workforce in the banking sector was 135,900 in 2009. The assets under management in Switzerland in 2009 amounted to CHF 5,600 billion, of which CHF 3,000 billion, or around 54%, was attributable to foreign clients. With a market share of 25%, Switzerland is the world market leader in cross-border asset management.

The different banking groups

The Swiss banks can be roughly divided into six groups, these are big banks , Raiffeisen banks , cantonal banks , regional banks and savings banks , stock exchange , securities , asset management banks and private bankers as well as foreign-controlled banks. There are also quite a few, e.g. Some of them are also well-known banks that have found their own place in the industry and PostFinance as a division of Swiss Post , which has a very strong position in retail banking. In 2018, the workforce of all 248 Swiss banks was 107,388 full-time equivalents.

The big banks

The two big banks UBS and Credit Suisse are the largest banking groups in Switzerland and are among the largest in the world. They act as global universal banks. In contrast to many foreign institutions, they are the most important nationwide even in domestic retail banking, even if regionally the Raiffeisen banks and the cantonal banks in particular have a higher market share. In the course of time, both UBS and Credit Suisse have taken over a number of banks, some of them steeped in tradition, and dissolved them in their own groups or reorganized and incorporated them into specialized units. Both big banks are granting loans worth billions to the fossil energy sectors . The workforce of all big banks in 2018 was 37,050 full-time equivalents.

Raiffeisen banks

The 316 independent Raiffeisen banks are united in solidarity in Raiffeisen Switzerland , under which they are mutually liable. Raiffeisen Switzerland coordinates the group's activities, creates framework conditions for the business activities of the local Raiffeisen banks (e.g. IT, infrastructure, refinancing) and advises and supports them in all matters. The Raiffeisen banks traditionally focus on local retail banking and lending to local small and medium-sized companies . Raiffeisen Switzerland is the third largest banking group in Switzerland. The workforce of all Raiffeisen banks in 2018 was 9215 full-time equivalents.

Cantonal banks

Main article: Cantonal bank

Taken together, the 24 cantonal banks would form the third largest banking group in Switzerland. But in contrast to the Raiffeisen banks, the cantonal banks do not form a banking group, but are legally and economically absolutely independent and z. T. competing banks. Her field of activity has traditionally been in retail banking and banking for small and medium-sized companies within her own canton. Individual cantonal banks such as Zürcher Kantonalbank and Banque Cantonale Vaudoise have expanded their area of ​​activity to include asset management and investment banking , thereby creating important additional sources of income. Zürcher Kantonalbank is by far the largest cantonal bank and accounts for around a quarter of the total assets and staff of all cantonal banks. This makes Zürcher Kantonalbank the fourth largest bank in Switzerland. The workforce of all cantonal banks was 17,357 full-time equivalents in 2018.

Regional banks and savings banks

Main article: Regional banks and savings banks (Switzerland)

The area of ​​activity of the regional banks has traditionally also been in local retail banking. 36 of the 63 Swiss regional banks and savings banks are affiliated with the Association of Swiss Regional Banks, the RBA Group . However, the banks affiliated with the holding company continue to operate as independent institutions.

The remaining 27 regional banks, including four of the five largest regional banks in Switzerland, are not affiliated with the RBA Holding. Some of them have been taken over by financial groups over the years and are run as independent business units within the group. These include the largest regional bank in Switzerland, Neue Aargauer Bank, as a subsidiary of Credit Suisse Group, and the third largest, Baloise Bank SoBa, as a subsidiary of Bâloise-Holding.

The workforce of all regional banks and savings banks was 3915 full-time equivalents in 2018.

Stock exchange, securities and asset management banks

The Swiss stock exchange , securities , asset management banks and private bankers have a tradition going back more than 250 years and are considered to be the real fathers of the Swiss financial center. Today these can be divided into two groups. On the one hand, there are the actual private bankers who do not form a company, but are still active today as private bankers and are liable with their good reputation and all of their private assets. The two largest among them by far are Pictet & Cie and Banque Lombard Odier & Cie , which, in terms of assets under management of CHF 420 billion and CHF 180 billion, respectively, are third behind UBS and Credit Suisse and behind Julius Baer are the fifth largest asset managers in Switzerland. On the other hand, the private banks, which were originally also private bankers, have been transformed into corporations over time. The largest among them is by far the traditional Julius Baer , which is the fourth largest asset manager in terms of assets under management of CHF 406 billion and the eighth largest bank in Switzerland in terms of total assets .

Foreign banks

A number of foreign banks have settled in Switzerland as a banking center, often by opening their own branch , taking over an existing bank or setting up their own subsidiary . The branches of foreign banks are economically and legally not separate legal entities in Switzerland, but are subordinate to their parent companies. The majority of the foreign-controlled banks are active in asset management and investment banking , are mainly based in Zurich or Geneva and play an important role in the Swiss financial center. The two largest in the group of other banks, to which the foreign-controlled banks belong, are HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) and BNP Paribas (Suisse) , based on total assets of CHF 58.3 billion and 38, respectively. 5 billion the fifth and sixth largest bank in Switzerland. Crédit Agricole (Suisse) is the third largest foreign-controlled bank in Switzerland and the ninth largest overall. With a share of 17%, the foreign banks are the second most important employers in the banking industry behind the big banks but ahead of the cantonal banks.

Other banks

In addition to the banks divided into the groups mentioned above, there are several more, some of which have created their own niche . Examples are Migros Bank , a subsidiary of the Migros retail group, which is active in retail banking, and Bank Cler , which is also active in retail banking , in which Basler Kantonalbank is the majority shareholder today, but which was previously a subsidiary of the Coop retail group, which specializes in asset management and credit card business active Cornèr Bank , the cooperative WIR Bank or the banks operating according to ecological and social principles alternative Bank Switzerland and Free Community Bank to name.

PostFinance as a special case

In contrast to the German Postbank , PostFinance is not a bank, but just a division of Swiss Post . In the absence of a banking license, PostFinance's area of ​​activity is limited to its traditional main area - national and international payment transactions and the associated services, as well as the sale of individual financial services and products created in cooperation with banks. Nevertheless, PostFinance positions itself as number five among retail financial institutions.

[Note: PostFinance received an official banking license in spring 2013 and will be subject to regular FINMA supervision in the course of its conversion into a public limited company (2nd / 3rd quarter of 2013)]

The largest banks in Switzerland

The table shows the largest banks in Switzerland, measured according to various key figures as of the end of 2018. In addition to the eight largest institutions according to total assets, the table also contains the banks that are among the eight largest in terms of assets under management, equity capital or number of employees.

Bank (at group level) 1 Headquarters Balance sheet total
(billion CHF )
assets under management
(billion CHF) 		Equity
(billion CHF) 		Net profit
(million CHF) 		Employee
UBS Zurich 958,489 3,101 52.93 4,516 66,888
Credit Suisse Zurich 768,916 1,347 43,922 2,024 45,680
Raiffeisen Switzerland St. Gallen 225.333 14.2 1.93 42.5 9'215
Zürcher Kantonalbank Zurich 169.408 295.2 11.9 788 5,087
PostFinance Bern 118.173 119.8 6.748 229 3,325
Julius Baer Zurich 102.898 382.0 28.4 735 6,693
Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Lausanne 47.863 87.6 3.522 350 1,896
Migros Bank Zurich 44.679 34.6 3.857 204 1'344
Basler Kantonalbank Basel 44.031 12.3 3.846 103 790
Lucerne Cantonal Bank Lucerne 38.761 29.0 2.675 200 1,028
Union Bancaire Privée Geneva 32,571 126.8 2.303 202 1,781

1 all 2018 figures at Group level, including subsidiaries

History of the Swiss banking system

Banking in Switzerland began in the late Middle Ages . In 1853 the Banque Générale Suisse was created in Geneva, which existed until 1869, and in 1856 the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA) was founded in Zurich. Since the Second World War , corporate concentration among banks has increased sharply. Switzerland has been a member of the World Bank Group since 1992 . In 2002 the Swiss financial center became part of the Continuous Linked Settlement .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In the eye of the hurricane. The then CEO of Bank Bär, Alex Widmer , spoke about his experiences in the USA in Weltwoche 31/2008.
  2. ^ Montebourg report: Largely unjustified all-round attack against the Swiss financial center. ( Memento of September 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Federal Department of Finance , February 21, 2001 (page accessed on April 15, 2008)
  3. ↑ Maren Peters: Top position handed over - Switzerland is "only" third in the tax haven ranking srf.ch, February 23, 2020, accessed on February 23, 2020.
  4. ↑ Swiss banking secrecy is revealed n-tv.de, September 3, 2013, accessed on November 2, 2013.
  5. ↑ a b c d e Banks in Switzerland 2018 (PDF, 2.1 MB): snb.ch . Retrieved August 1, 2019 .
  6. ↑ New report: Credit Suisse and UBS at the top of Europe in the risk business with fossil energy. Greenpeace Switzerland, March 18, 2020, accessed on March 21, 2020 .
  7. ↑ PostFinance Ltd is subject to the supervision of FINMA
  8. ^ Martin Körner: Banks - 1 The emergence of the public banks (15th century). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . August 17, 2006 , accessed April 12, 2017 .
  9. ^ Harm G. Schröter: Concentration. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . October 30, 2008 , accessed March 15, 2020 .
  10. ↑ New representative of Switzerland at the World Bank Group . In: admin.ch , March 13, 2020.
  11. ^ Dominique Baumann: Payment transactions. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . May 11, 2015 , accessed March 1, 2020 .