Safekeeping of securities in Switzerland
The central safekeeping of exchange-traded securities in Switzerland is carried out by the central securities depository . In Switzerland, this function is performed by SIX SIS, a division of the SIX Group . For this purpose, the largest securities safe in Switzerland is operated in Olten at Baslerstrasse 100.
Historical background
Before the introduction of EDP, all securities were physically transported as effective pieces from the seller to the buyer in stock exchange trading . The banks held securities for their customers. This was a very time-consuming, expensive and unsafe procedure. Today the securities are stored centrally and often only in the form of a global certificate .
Vault building
The largest safe in Switzerland is located in the building at Baslerstrasse 100 in Olten . Although paper-based securities are being replaced more and more by those traded electronically, many companies are now again offering their securities physically (paper-based) for reasons of prestige.
The employees of SIX SIS only perform a little over 50 physical movements with the stored securities every day . They happen, for example, when a bank delivers its securities. The value of the physically stored securities fluctuates around 2,000 billion francs, depending on the stock exchange and currency rates.
Technical specifications
- Excavation depth for safe 22 m
- Base area of the safe 47.84 m × 20 m
- Height of the safe 14.2 m
- Contents of the safe 13,586.56 m³
- Safe walls 94 cm
- Safe ceiling 127 cm
- Weight of the vault ceiling 3'455 t
- Reinforcement of the vault 429 t
- Installation depth in the groundwater 8 m
- Number of storage spaces (1st phase) 30,000
- The cubic volume of the building is 65,000 m³
- Office space 3,000 m²
- Jobs 250
- Construction costs CHF 65 million (including land, safe and interior fittings), of which CHF 11 million for safe technology
- Start of operation in 1993
museum
In 2002, SIX Group AG established the Foundation for the Collection of Historical Securities , which is run by the Wertpapierwelt Museum in Olten .