Eleven surprising facts about the Swiss banking center

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From the bank CEO who is also a TV Jass expert, to a bank robbery in which the murder weapon is a frying pan, to the famous play “Tour de Strip” by former Raiffeisen CEO Pierin Vincenz (66) and the surprising ending. Swiss banking secrecy: 11 facts from the banking world that are still surprising today.

Sparniskasse Speicher in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden is Switzerland’s smallest bank. Three people work for him at two workstations. In 2022, the balance sheet total will be CHF 74.5 million. For comparison: CS’ balance sheet total is more than 7,000 times by the end of 2022. Managing director Daniel Müller (60) has been on the job since 1991. Müller is also known as a Jass expert: he has been seen for years on the Donnschtig and Samstig-Jass SRF programmes.

At the end of 2021 there are 239 different banks in Switzerland (last figures from SNB). These banks have a total of 2349 branches. For comparison: Coop and Migros jointly operate 1624 branches in Switzerland. According to Blick research, there are 75 towns in Switzerland with at least one branch each of CS and UBS. Now that the two banks have merged, these locations are particularly threatened by downsizing.

The indictment against former Raiffeisen CEO Pierin Vincenz (66) at the beginning of 2021 gives a deep insight. He announces his escape to the public. As a Raiffeisen boss, he often went to strip clubs and cabarets. In total, he spent about 200,000 francs on more than 100 cabaret visits – at the expense of the Raiffeisen expense account. Blick used this to create the “Tour de Strip” map.

Today’s private bank, Rahn und Bodmer, was founded in Zurich in 1750. Even the French Revolution (1789 to 1799) was not so long ago. Rahn und Bodmer is the oldest bank still in existence in Switzerland. It did not initially offer banking services, but was active in the silk trade. It was common at the time to mix commercial and banking transactions.

On average, salaries in the banking industry are 10 to 15 percent higher than in other industries. That’s what Jörg Scholten of management consultancy Kienbaum told “NZZ” earlier this week. For example, a marketing officer in the finance industry earns CHF 93,700 per year, while the same position in the retail industry brings only CHF 78,100. The difference is greatest at the management level: employees in the retail sector earn 158,000 francs, and in the financial sector 206,800 francs.

The importance of the financial sector to Switzerland as a workplace is less than many realize. In 2021, the “Financial Services” sector had 124,558 full-time positions, according to the Federal Statistical Office. There are 325,000 employees in the mechanical, electrical and metals industries alone – that’s three times the entire financial sector.

According to the State Economic Affairs Secretariat, financial services contribute CHF 36.4 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP). This corresponds to just 4.9 percent of the overall Swiss GDP.

doctor S, a retired high school teacher, attacked the ZKB’s Zurich-Seebach branch in Maundy on Thursday, 2011 with bare feet. Equipped with a frying pan, which he carries in a rolling suitcase. The 69-year-old man at the time asked for 1 billion francs and said, “But 400 thousand francs is enough for a start.” The bank employee takes the money from the safe and comes back crying. Confused, the robber then tells the woman, “You don’t have to cry anymore.”

With the money he stole, he went straight to the SBB travel agency at the Oerlikon ZH train station, bought a 1st class GA travel card and two hours. An hour and a half later, the pensioner was arrested on Bahnhofstrasse. The psychiatric report later confirms his violent mania and thus his innocence.

According to a study conducted by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in November 2022, there are 6,570 ATMs in Switzerland. On average, 350 CHF is withdrawn per withdrawal. At the beginning of December 2021, an average of 415 francs was shot.

Zurich is famous for its banks. It sets the stage for feature films over and over again in the banking environment. He plays partly in the city of Limmat in the 2002 spy thriller “The Bourne Identity,” in which he plays with Matt Damon (52). However, for cost reasons, the scenes were shot not in Zurich, but in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

For decades, banking secrecy has been one of the reasons people from abroad entrust their money to Swiss banks. Your privacy is guaranteed here. As late as March 2008, then Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz (80, FDP) told the EU: “You’re going to bite your teeth for this bank secret.” About a year later, in February 2009, the Federal Council decided to allow UBS to turn over 255 client names to US authorities. Three weeks later comes the decision to abolish the distinction between tax fraud and tax evasion. However, banking secrecy is becoming a thing of the past.

The first CS branch is not on Paradeplatz in Zurich, as might be expected. In 1856 the then Schweizerische Kreditanstalt moved to its first building 50 meters from Paradeplatz (address: Tiefenhöfe 6). Six employees were working at the bank at the time. After only one year the area is very small so the bank is looking for a new location.

Source :Blick