Banks are increasingly avoiding doing business abroad with Switzerland

Immigrant Thomas Gürster (56) has a mortgage problem on his house in Switzerland. Raiffeisen bank terminated the contract before the agreed deadline. The reason: the bank no longer wants to take care of customers abroad.

“The regulatory framework for Swiss banks regarding cross-border services is constantly changing,” says Raiffeisen when asked by Blick. According to the bank, complex control and documentation processes are sometimes required for customers residing abroad.

Raiffeisen drives out immigrants

Therefore, Raiffeisen decided to limit the number of governed countries. The bank currently manages about 50 countries. The vast majority of these countries are said to be in Europe.

Housing loan agreements of customers residing in other countries will be terminated in accordance with the relevant special contract provisions. Proper liquidation is a matter for Raiffeisen banks and branches of Raiffeisen Switzerland.

Banks restrict foreign trade

Other banks are also clearly struggling more and more with the regulatory framework. Not only immigrants with mortgages, but also other banking transactions abroad with Switzerland are affected.

For example, Credit Suisse states that it will no longer establish any new banking relationships with immigrants. For existing customers, the bank can provide at least a basic offer for most countries.

Silence about the countries involved

Major banks remain silent about how many customers are affected in which countries. “We do not communicate with affected countries,” CS says.

Raiffeisen remains similarly cryptic. It also does not report which countries are on the Red List. UBS does not want to comment on the matter.