INTERVIEW: SUSANNE WENGER Swiss Review: Tobias Straumann, does the loss of Credit Suisse with its long history mark a tipping or turning point for Switzerland? Tobias Straumann: Well, it is certainly a milestone. Credit Suisse (CS) was Switzerland’s oldest big bank still in existence. But its demise is not a huge turning point as such. Big banks were “Berne will probably still need to keep the new banking colossus on an even keel.” The end came for banking stalwart Credit Suisse 167 years after its founding, when the government forced UBS to take over its ailing competitor. Economic historian Tobias Straumann on Switzerland and its big banks, on wishful thinking in Berne – and on the question of whether our small country still needs an international banking giant at all. 1856 1934 1977 Bank for the railways The liberal politician and businessman Alfred Escher (photo) founds Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA) in Zurich with the help of his peers. SKA, the forerunner of Credit Suisse, quickly becomes Switzerland’s biggest merchant bank and helps to fund the expansion of the Swiss national railway. Ski hats for the people To boost its image, SKA gives away 800,000 branded woolly hats to the public. These beanies remain a common sight on the ski slopes well into the 1990s, later becoming a cult item. The merch becomes popular again after the demise of Credit Suisse, worth a lot more than the CS share price. Banking secrecy enshrined in law Parliament approves legislation ensuring banking secrecy for bank clients in Switzerland. This is a contentious issue at home and abroad, but Berne fiercely defends banking secrecy for a long time. Amid growing international pressure over tax evasion, Switzerland begins to phase out banking secrecy for foreign clients in 2009. already failing back in the 1990s. Switzerland had five big banks around 30 years ago. Now there is one. The 2008 global financial crisis and ensuing government bailout of Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS were of much greater significance. So was the end of banking secrecy for foreign clients. From rescuing UBS to forcing it to acquire CS, the state has had to bail out Swiss big banks twice in the last 15 years – in a country that prides itself on its free-market principles. How does that make sense? Switzerland is not as market oriented as you may think. This country has many state-owned or pseudo stateowned enterprises. You have the cantonal banks for a start – these are also public-sector entities. Moreover, in my view government bailouts of big banks Photo: ETH-Bibliothek, Bildarchiv 4 Focus
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