St. Moritz Bank
The St. Moritz Bank was a bank in St. Moritz that emerged in 1905 from the predecessor R. Bavier St. Moritz Bank . In 1918 it was absorbed by the Swiss Volksbank .
history
The beginnings of the bank go back to a money exchange that the hotelier Rudolf Bavier ran in his Hotel Belvédère on Via dal Bagn 42 in St. Moritz. After the hotel was sold, Bavier concentrated on banking. His new company traded under the name of R. Bavier St. Moritzer Bank . The bank was active in the financing business , especially the granting of mortgage-backed loans to hotels. In 1903 Bavier hired Rudolf Nater as authorized signatory.
He took on an important role after Bavier's unexpected death in an accident while visiting a construction site in 1904. The widow Bavier and the children, who were still underage, sold the bank in 1905 to a joint-stock company founded specifically for this purpose. The board of directors made Rudolf Nater and his brother Carl, who later became mayor of St. Moritz, the managing directors .
The company doubled its original share capital of 300,000 francs as early as 1906. In 1911 it was increased again to 1 million Swiss francs. The turnover increased from 47 million in 1905 to 100 million in 1911 and the bank opened branches in St. Moritz Bad and in 1911/12 in Pontresina .
The bank was heavily involved in the Engadin luxury hotel industry. She was in charge of founding the joint stock companies for the St. Moritz Hotels Carlton , Monopol and La Margna . The bank was hit hard by the crisis in the hotel industry as a result of the outbreak of the First World War . The lack of guests made the hotels insolvent to their creditors, including the St. Moritz Bank. A capital increase in 1914, which brought in only CHF 300,000 instead of the planned CHF 500,000, gave the bank some breathing space. In the end, however, in 1918 she had to accept the takeover offer from the Schweizerische Volksbank , which had already helped her on various occasions beforehand. Volksbank took over all employees of St. Moritz Bank.
literature
- Daniela Decurtins , Susi Grossmann: For better or for worse . Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft Chur 1994 pp. 43–45, p. 54.