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The vault of a bank with client safety deposit boxes in Switzerland(Keystone) “We had a Swiss client who needed a lawyer in Tehran urgently. Within an hour, we had enlisted the help of a colleague in Dubai who was able to recommend one he knew well,” Gagnebin recalls at Rothschild’s sleek offices in a smart Zurich suburb. “Being a Swiss banker, a lot of it is still about soft factors.”Gagnebin’s career shift underlines the pressures that the Swiss banking sector is facing. Even a decade ago, clients from all over the world flocked to Switzerland to find a discreet home for cash that they wanted to hide from the taxman.These customer...

Credit Suisse now leases its building in Uetlihof (Keystone) Credit Suisse’s great Zurich property sell-off continues unabated with another landmark building coming under the hammer this month. The Zurich-headquartered bank has sold five properties in its home city – a move that has confounded some critics. The latest building holds a prestigious address: Bahnhofstrasse 32. It was once home to Bank Leu (founded 1755) before the venerable private bank was bought by Credit Suisse. Despite spending CHF20 million renovating the Leuenhof in 2007, Credit Suisse now deems the address surplus to requirements. A triple-digit million franc figure has been agreed with new buyer Swiss Prime for the ...

Life appears to be getting brighter for UBS and Credit Suisse, both based in Zurich's Paradeplatz (Keystone) Switzerland’s two largest banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, have both reported drops in net profit for the second quarter. However, both banks have reasons to be relatively happy. On Friday, UBS reported a 14% drop in net profit, citing “pronounced low client activity” amid economic and geopolitical uncertainties and other market weaknesses. Nevertheless, the profit of CHF1.03 billion ($1.05 billion) was better than expected, topping average analysts’ estimates - as polled by Reuters - of CHF495 million. The bank said market volatility, macroeconomic uncertainty and “heightened geopolit...

Here are the stories we’re following the week begiing July 25: (Keystone) Monday What to do with convicted terrorists? We look into the case of three Iraqis sentenced earlier this year in a Swiss court for their ties to the Islamic State (IS). Deport them? But will Iraq want to take them back? Read about the dilemma in our report. (Keystone) Tuesday EFG bank will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting to give shareholders a say on its takeover of the troubled BSI private bank. Swiss and Singaporean regulators have given the green light for the takeover after BSI got its fingers bued in the 1MDB scandal. On July 14 EFG said it wanted to speed up the takeover process. Also on Tuesday, ...

Tidjane Thiam has been forced to take shelter from a hail of criticism in recent weeks When he took over at the helm of Credit Suisse last July, Tidjane Thiam could hardly have expected - just one year on - to be denying reports of the company being broken up and sold off. It has been one of those years for the bank whose share price threatened to drop below CHF10 a week ago. Much of the Swiss media hailed Thiam as a likely saviour of the struggling bank last summer. Most of these headlines have tued sour in a remarkably short time span. “The group will stay intact,” Thiam was forced to tell the SotagsBlick newspaper on Sunday. “A takeover is not a subject.” While Thiam has been defend...

Pictet's headquarters in Geneva (Keystone) When pitching for wealthy Asian entrepreneurs as clients, it helps if your bank has your family name on its front door. That at least is the experience of Nicolas Pictet, who heads Asian subsidiaries at the Swiss private bank named after his 19th-century forebear Edouard Pictet. “They say: ‘Nicolas, I wanted to meet you because I wanted to know: how did you make it to the eighth generation? What is your recipe?’” As the longest-serving of Pictet’s top managers, Mr Pictet this week takes over as the “senior partner” of the Geneva-based bank, one of Switzerland’s largest assets managers. He succeeds Jacques de Saussure, who is retiring. But the fam...

The first Private Banking Day was held in Geneva on June 10, 2016. (Keystone) Swiss private banks are looking to capitalise on global banks' retreat from Southeast Asia, pushing deeper into the region as they seek to extend their range beyond Singapore to tap wealthy clients in less developed markets. Bordier & Cie is the latest wealth manager seeking partnerships with regional banks in markets including Vietnam, on the heels of a similar tie-up in Thailand between Lombard Odier and a local bank. Credit Suisse, too, is targeting rich Thais, setting up a team of relationship managers in Bangkok. Geneva-based Bordier & Cie said it is in talks with at least three regional institution...

Jun 10, 2016 - 12:24The prestigious Patrouille Suisse display team is a popular ambassador for Switzerland and its air force. On Thursday, the team suffered the first serious incident in its 52-year history, when two F-5 display jets collided near a Dutch air base.The mid-air collision occurred near the northe city of Leeuwarden, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Amsterdam.One jet crashed in a pond and the pilot ejected before impact, and the other landed safely with a damaged tail.The cause of the accident is unknown and an investigation is underway. The Swiss plane was due to take part in an air show this weekend. In an interview with Swiss public television, SRF, Air Force Command...

Private banks, including Pictet and Lombard Odier, do not want to see the law changed Should Swiss taxpayers foot part of the bill for the criminal misbehaviour of companies? Private bankers believe that billions of francs in fines imposed by other countries for tax evasion offences should be tax deductible. The reason? Swiss banks should not be responsible for upholding the laws of foreign countries. Starting with a $780 million fine for UBS in 2009, the United States alone has hit more than 80 Swiss banks with penalties totalling well over $5 billion. More financial sanctions are expected, not just from the US but from France, Belgium and other countries. With the bill stacking up, t...