The Banking System in Switzerland
The Banking System in Switzerland
Switzerland has a fairly long history of banking. The origin of Switzerland’s banking system can be traced back to the mid-eighteenth century. Wegelin & Co., known as the oldest Swiss bank ever founded, was established in 1741. This is about a century earlier than the beginning of the banking history in the U.S. The central bank of Switzerland is the Swiss National Bank (SNB). It is founded by the Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank on Jan 16th 1906, however, it did not start conducting business until June 20th 1907. Just like America’s Federal Reserve, SNB does not serve as a federal owned government institution. But different from the Fed, SNB is publicly owned and all its shares are publicly traded, and are held by the cantons, cantonal banks and individual investors.
As a fully developed country, Switzerland has a prosperous economic standing. They have one of the highest per-capita GDP in Western Europe and around the world. Finance is one of the heaviest sector of Switzerland’s economy. In 2009, the financial sector comprised 11.6 % of Switzerland’s GDP, which is about 4.1% higher than the U.S’s standing. The whole industry provide approximately 195,000 employment opportunity. Overall, the banking system plays a relatively more important role in Switzerland than in the United States. Moreover, due to its neutral political positions and strict system of client information protection, Switzerland has been long recognized as the place to keep funds by foreign investors. It is recently estimated that close to one-third of all worldwide funds held outside of their origin country are kept under Swiss banks. By 2007, Swiss banks managed roughly $2.7 trillion foreign fund. Swiss banks also own strong workforce abroad. There are estimated 103,000 people hired by Swiss banks all around the world.
As for law and regulations, the United States is considered to have a much higher fragmented banking regulatory system than
Switzerland has a fairly long history of banking. The origin of Switzerland’s banking system can be traced back to the mid-eighteenth century. Wegelin & Co., known as the oldest Swiss bank ever founded, was established in 1741. This is about a century earlier than the beginning of the banking history in the U.S. The central bank of Switzerland is the Swiss National Bank (SNB). It is founded by the Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank on Jan 16th 1906, however, it did not start conducting business until June 20th 1907. Just like America’s Federal Reserve, SNB does not serve as a federal owned government institution. But different from the Fed, SNB is publicly owned and all its shares are publicly traded, and are held by the cantons, cantonal banks and individual investors.
As a fully developed country, Switzerland has a prosperous economic standing. They have one of the highest per-capita GDP in Western Europe and around the world. Finance is one of the heaviest sector of Switzerland’s economy. In 2009, the financial sector comprised 11.6 % of Switzerland’s GDP, which is about 4.1% higher than the U.S’s standing. The whole industry provide approximately 195,000 employment opportunity. Overall, the banking system plays a relatively more important role in Switzerland than in the United States. Moreover, due to its neutral political positions and strict system of client information protection, Switzerland has been long recognized as the place to keep funds by foreign investors. It is recently estimated that close to one-third of all worldwide funds held outside of their origin country are kept under Swiss banks. By 2007, Swiss banks managed roughly $2.7 trillion foreign fund. Swiss banks also own strong workforce abroad. There are estimated 103,000 people hired by Swiss banks all around the world.
As for law and regulations, the United States is considered to have a much higher fragmented banking regulatory system than