Banking in Switzerland dates to the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland. The country has a long history of banking secrecy and client confidentiality reaching back to the early 1700s. Starting as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934 with the passage of a landmark federal law, the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks. These laws, which were used to protect assets of persons being persecuted by Nazi authorities, have also been used by people and institutions seeking to illegally evade taxes, hide assets, or generally commit financial crime.
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland as a standalone firm but now a subsidiary of UBS. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse will be fully integrated into UBS but while the integration is not complete both banks are operating separately. Headquartered in Zürich, as a standalone firm it maintained offices in all major financial centers around the world and provided services in investment banking, private banking, asset management, and shared services. It was known for strict bank–client confidentiality and banking secrecy. The Financial Stability Board considered it to be a global systemically important bank. Credit Suisse was also a primary dealer and Forex counterparty of the Federal Reserve in the United States.
Julius Bär Group AG, known alternatively as Julius Baer Group Ltd., is a private banking corporation founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it is among the older Swiss banking institutions. In terms of assets under management, Julius Baer is number two among Swiss banks after UBS and the biggest pure-play private bank. The bank's reputation has been marred by various controversies and legal challenges. These include a legal dispute with WikiLeaks in 2008, allegations of aiding U.S. citizens in tax evasion in 2011, and a censure by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in 2020 for deficiencies in combating money laundering. The bank has also been implicated in money laundering scandals involving corrupt Venezuelan officials and has faced investigations for its role in the FIFA corruption case. These controversies have cast a shadow on its legacy and raised questions about its compliance and ethical practices.
LGT Group is the largest royal family-owned private banking and asset management group in the world. LGT, originally known as The Liechtenstein Global Trust, is owned by the princely House of Liechtenstein through the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation and led by its royal family members H.S.H. Prince Maximilian von und zu Liechtenstein (CEO) and H.S.H. Prince Philipp von und zu Liechtenstein (chairman).
Partners Group Holding AG is a Swiss-based global private equity firm with US$149 billion in assets under management in private equity, private infrastructure, private real estate and private debt.
GAM Investments is an independent, pure play asset management group headquartered in Zurich. The Group sells to a wide range of client segments such as institutions, wholesale intermediaries, financial advisers, and private investors. The Group’s investment management business is complemented by a private labelling unit which provides outsourcing for third-party asset managers.
UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered simultaneously in Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swiss banking institution and the largest private bank in the world. UBS client services are known for their strict bank–client confidentiality and culture of banking secrecy. Because of the bank's large positions in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific markets, the Financial Stability Board considers it a global systemically important bank.
SIX is a key financial market infrastructure company in Switzerland. The company provides services relating to securities transactions, the processing of financial information, payment transactions and is building a digital infrastructure. The company name SIX is an abbreviation and stands for Swiss Infrastructure and Exchange. SIX is globally active, with its headquarters in Zurich.
Martin Blessing is a German banker and business person.
FNZ is a global financial services company that provides investment platforms to major financial institutions and wealth management firms. As of May 2024, FNZ manages over US$1.5 trillion in assets. FNZ's technology platform provides services such as investment front office, tax wrappers and investment back office, operating under a platform as a service delivery model.
VZ Group is a Swiss financial service provider based in Zug. It is known by the name VZ Vermögenszentrum on the market. Since March 2007, the holding company VZ Holding Ltd is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The group employs around 1400 employees and managed client money amounting to CHF 45 billion as of 31 December 2023. VZ Vermögenszentrum has almost 40 locations in Switzerland, Germany, and England.
Raiffeisen Switzerland is a cooperative of cooperatives – the union of all independent Swiss Raiffeisen banks. It bears responsibility for the business policy and strategy within the Raiffeisen Group. The 219 independent Raiffeisen banks of Switzerland are organised as cooperatives. With 896 branch offices in total, they make up the densest branch network of any Swiss bank. After the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS, the Raiffeisen Group has become the second-largest banking group in Switzerland with client assets under management of 246.6 billion francs. Since June 2014, Raiffeisen has been classified as one of Switzerland's systemically important banks and must therefore meet special requirements in terms of capital. Raiffeisen Switzerland has 3.65 million clients in Switzerland, of whom approximately 1.9 million are cooperative members and thus co-owners of their regional Raiffeisen banks.
Responsability Investments AG is a private Swiss enterprise, founded in 2003 and headquartered in Zürich. Its core business are investments in microfinance companies which provide credit and other banking services to very small, small and medium-sized enterprises who previously had limited access to formal financial services in frontier or developing countries.
Rainer-Marc Frey is a Swiss businessman and investor. He is active in the Swiss financial services sector and the international hedge fund industry.
Martin Ebner is a Swiss billionaire businessman and investor from the municipality of Freienbach in the canton of Schwyz. He is the founder of BZ Bank, and the investment firm, BZ Group. Through his investment vehicle Patinex, he owns multimillion-dollar stakes in various companies, and his biggest holdings include healthcare company Vifor Pharma, software firm Temenos AG, and real estate investor Intershop.
Adams Street Partners, LLC (ASP) is an American private equity firm headquartered in Chicago. The majority of the firm's assets are in fund of funds strategies. In 2020, Preqin ranked the firm as the ninth-largest fund of funds globally with $40 billion in assets under management.
Bellevue Group AG, headquartered in Küsnacht, is a listed investment management corporation from Switzerland. Bellevue Group consists of the subsidiaries Bellevue Asset Management, Bellevue Private Markets and StarCapital. It has 9,6 billion Swiss francs Assets Under Management Around 80% of clients assets are in healthcare investments. Bellevue Group is also active in alternative investments and private equity, including co-investments in private domestic small and medium-sized enterprises. In this business area, client assets under management were 1.0 billion francs as of mid-2021.
Lindemannlaw stylized as LINDEMANNLAW, established in September 2011 by Dr. iur. Alexander Lindemann, is a law firm headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The firm was approached by the Swiss media to comment on asset and wealth management law, where it primarily operates, and recently on the Acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS. It focuses on providing legal, tax, and business intelligence services to wealth managers, asset managers, and entrepreneurs. LINDEMANNLAW is involved in the structuring and execution of international investment fund solutions across multiple jurisdictions, including Luxembourg, Malta, Liechtenstein, and the Cayman Islands.
CHF 1,304.6 mn (31-12-23) [2] 
CHF 206.8 billion (31-12-23) [2] 