Switzerland And Its Banks

This book provides a history of Swiss banking not confined to stereotypical opinions about secret numbered accounts. Instead, the presented history covers other intriguing events and developments beyond the famous issue of banking secrecy and the corresponding scandals. Topics covered in the book include the early financial innovations by banks in Geneva to handle the sovereign risk on bonds issued in pre-revolutionary France, the monetary chaos that led to the creation of the Swiss franc, the rather peculiar banknote competition and free-banking system in Switzerland during most of the nineteenth century, how the country and its currency became a financial safe haven after World War I, the golden age of Swiss banking when Zurich was briefly one of the largest financial centres in the world, and the exceptional shocks during and after the recent global financial crisis. In sum, a fascinating story emerges about an internationally important banking centre in one of the most unlikely places in the world. This book is a must-read for students, scholars, and researchers of economics and finance, as well as practitioners interested in a better understanding of economic history in general, and Swiss banking in particular.

Inside Swiss Banking provides an insider's perspective on how Swiss banks work, what legal frameworks guide them and how they navigate though the choppy waters of an increasingly global marketplace. Covering areas reaching from the Holocaust to Ferdinand Marcos and the most recent troubles of UBS in the United States, readers will get a rare level of insight into the many mysteries of Swiss banking, the true meaning of bank secrecy and the challenges facing the Swiss Banking brand as a new world order is about to transpire in the aftermath of the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

In this volume the authors provide a survey and an examination of the roots of Swiss banking in order to explain the phenomenal success of Switzerland's banks. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, Swiss banking did not originate with the exiled Hugenot bankers of Geneva. Centuries before Louis XIV, Basle had become a principal banking centre although it was not yet part of the Swiss Confederation. From historical beginnings to contemporary comparative analysis, the book offers an authoritative explanation and analysis of the success of the Swiss banks.

With the release of hundreds of damaging documents, a dark side of Switzerland's democracy has been unveiled. Switzerland is now seen as a nation of greedy bankers, collaborators with the Nazis, and robbers of the wealth of the victims of the Holocaust. Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls is a powerfully enlightening account of how a small and determined group of people from divergent backgrounds humbled the legendary Swiss financial empire to achieve a measure of justice for Holocaust survivors and their heirs, while shattering the myth of Swiss wartime neutrality. Rickman tells how a small group of people, none of them professional historians, pieced together a puzzle of unknown proportions and proceeded to dismantle the myth of Swiss innocence and victimization at the hands of the Nazis, and expose a fifty-year cover-up. Untold numbers of European Jews and others placed their funds in Swiss banks because they believed they offered a safe haven for funds which the Nazis were trying to control. What better place to put their money than in Switzerland? Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls discusses how investigative groups proved that Switzerland stole the money of the Jews and helped the Nazis to do the same. No one began with evidence and no one had a source of knowledge upon which to fall back. All they shared was a feeling that something was terribly wrong and that a great injustice had occurred. Propelled by this instinct, a U.S. Senator, the World Jewish Congress, a British Parliamentarian, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and a handful of Holocaust survivors accomplished what the U.S., British, and French governments and a group of feuding Jewish organizations could not or would not do. As a result of this effort, how the world views Switzerland and how Switzerland views itself has been redefined. Most importantly, those who survived the Nazi horrors, only to be victimized again by the Swiss bankers, have now achieved some measure of justice, or at least financial compensation after more than fifty years.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Economics - Finance, grade: 1,2, University of East London (Business School), course: International Financial Institutions and Markets, language: English, abstract: The Swiss financial centre, with banking as its leading segment, is of immense international significance and is positioned amongst global market leaders. The financial centre contributes greatly to gross value added in Switzerland and by doing so to the wealth of the whole Swiss population. (Swiss Bankers Association, 2010) In many aspects the banks are highly important to the Swiss economy. In terms of employees they offer a wide range of skilled jobs with potential earnings that are above average; a great portion of public sector financing is secured do to their tax contribution; and not to forget that they are centres of innovation and drivers of value added thus generating momentum for the entire economy. (Swiss Bankers Association, 2010)

Oliver Landmann Nobody needs to be convinced of the importance of banking for the Swiss economy. The financial sector grew well above average in the past decade and now accounts for almost 10 % of GDP. Compared to the economy-wide average, it creates more than double as much value added per employee and it is a major contributor to Swiss ex port revenues. But this is no cause for complacency. The industry is subjf:ct to rapid change as the competitive climate has become rougher nationally and internationally. Major structural weaknesses have corne to the surface which raise serious questions about the extent of the required structural adjustments. Thus, banking was an ideal candidate for a major case study in the framework of the National Research Programme No. 28 which is devoted to Switzerland's external economic challenges. The programme was commissioned by the Swiss government and is carried out by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The research project on the fmancial sector was directed by Professors Niklaus Blattner, Hans Genberg and Alexander Swoboda who assembled a team of research economists from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, the International Centre for Monetary and Banking Studies (both at Geneva) and the Labour and Industrial Economics Research Unit at the University of Basel. This joint research effort has yielded an impressive crop of descriptive data, analytical insights and policy-oriented conclusions.

The Swiss banking system is characterized by a two-tier structure. The first tier is composed of the two large banks and some smaller banks focused on private banking, all of which have a significant international presence. These banks represent, so to speak, the “international face” of the Swiss banks. They are mostly joint-stock companies or privately owned (unlimited personal liability). The second tier is composed of a varied group of banks, mostly focused on domestic, or even regional, business.

The story broke in 2006: Since 9/11, US intelligence services have had access to practically any international money transfer data by infiltrating the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) network. Banks worldwide transfer money orders and personal customer data through this network. While the surveillance was all-embracing in 2001, it was gradually limited over the course of the last few years. Revealed by the New York Times, the SWIFT affair has had global as well as national implications. While this dissertation first examines the international dimension of the SWIFT surveillance, the analysis mainly focuses on the national repercussions for Switzerland. Arditi Prize 2010 in International Affairs.