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.
The Mont Cervin Palace in Zermatt. A hub of tourism, many private banks service the city and maintain underground bunkers and storage facilities for gold at the foothills of the Swiss Alps.
Switzerland's mountainous terrain helps to store gold in underground bunkers.
International pressure to roll back banking secrecy is seen as an attack on Swiss culture and values. The Swiss parliament expressed an interest in adopting banking secrecy into their constitution in 2017.
Worldwide headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel
Offshore financial centre
An offshore financial centre (OFC) is defined as a "country or jurisdiction that provides financial services to nonresidents on a scale that is incommensurate with the size and the financing of its domestic economy."
IFSC, Dublin, Ireland. Ireland is a top-five conduit OFC, the largest global tax haven, and the third-largest OFC shadow banking centre.
Spuerkeess Bank HQ, Luxembourg. Luxembourg is the second largest Sink OFC, the sixth largest global OFC, and the second largest OFC shadow banking centre.
Singapore Exchange, SGX Centre, Singapore.
Dutch Stock Exchange, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Netherlands is the largest global Conduit OFC, and is the 5th largest global OFC, and is the 4th largest shadow banking OFC.