The identity of the “Swiss Bank”
In a suspense movie called “The Bourne Identity”, there is a scene where the protagonist visits the Gemeinschaft Bank in Zurich, Switzerland, and has trouble opening the safe deposit box that he is supposed to have contracted.
What is required at the counter is not a signature, but an account number of more than a dozen digits. Write and verify by hand (data written by the person himself / herself is registered). You will have to wait in a locked private room while the staff in charge will carry you the safe (even alcohol!). ）。 In the hallway or elevator, no other customers can be seen. It is clearly different from ordinary banks, and it is built as an extremely private space, and you can see that the eyes of security are focused on visitors. The protagonist behaves a little strangely because he has amnesia. As a result, the staff is suspicious and pursued, and the show-off action begins.
I don’t know if the financial institution called “Gemeinschaft Bank” that appears in the story actually exists, but the point is that it is a theatrical tool that symbolically represents the so-called “Swiss Bank”.
The term “Swiss Bank” in movies and novels is a generic term for private banks based in Switzerland that operate under the Swiss Banking Act, not a bank named “Swiss Bank”. Private banks are based on a service system devised by Swiss merchants in the early 18th century to maintain the confidentiality of banks and their customers and protect their interests, and are traditionally known for their high confidentiality of customer information. Unlike ordinary commercial banks, many of them keep the huge personal assets of millionaires around the world and provide special services. The name of the account holder is withheld, and instead the customer’s discretionary control number is set. Only customer representatives and some executives know who they are.
Even if the control number is leaked, it is impossible to determine the identity. In order to avoid customers meeting each other at the store, visitors must be made by appointment. The elevator only stops on the floor where the person in charge is waiting. And it has been the traditional commitment of Swiss private banks not to divulge customer information, even if requested by the police, unless there is something extraordinary. The confidentiality of these Swiss banks was clearly stated in the Federal Law on Banks and Savings Banks (Swiss Banking Act) in 1934, and I hear that before and after World War II, this law was used as a shield to protect the property of those persecuted by the Nazis.
On the other hand, since its secrecy can be used for crimes such as money laundering and tax evasion, there are naturally many criticisms, but this has not weakened the Swiss Banking Act, and the stance of protecting customers has been thorough.
However, the ethics of 300 years ago, which seemed to be thinner than the wings of a mayfly, seem to be becoming unapplicable in modern times, and in recent years, it seems that some information disclosure has been accepted. In 2009, for example, then-U.S. President Barack Obama personally urged Switzerland’s UBS Group AG, Switzerland’s largest commercial and private bank, to disclose a list of American customers. Fearing that it would shut down its business in the U.S., UBS accepted the request, and other private banks followed suit. For this reason, the special stance that “Swiss Bank” has adhered to for the past hundreds of years may be much less subdued than in the past.
Now, Swiss banks have won the tremendous trust of their customers through the extremely high level of secrecy mentioned above, but it seems that they have fallen into a situation where their feet have been shaken since they came here.
The news that Credit Suisse, a major bank in Zurich, Switzerland, will be acquired by rival bank UBS has shocked the world. Moreover, a special corporate bond called “AT1 bond” issued by Credit Suisse will become worthless by the acquisition. The loss was about 2.2 trillion yen at Japan yen. Credit Suisse’s holdings of AT1 bonds in Japan in Japan are not so large, but there is turmoil among financial circles. In addition, we have learned that Credit Suisse customers are withdrawing their funds one after another and switching to other locations. This is the case with a large Swiss bank that was once unthinkable of failing.
Whether it is the result of misreading the current trends or scratching our cross-legged shoulders on history and tradition, we live in an era where “big and old” alone cannot overcome it.
By Admin|2023-04-28|2023,News Release|