By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Switzerland should maintain a public register of bankers who have violated their professional duties, as it continues to rebuild its reputation following the Credit Suisse collapse, the director of Zurich‑based private bank Julius Baer said in an interview.
“Registering financial market participants has clear advantages,” Stefan Bollinger told Swiss-German newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung. “This prevents bad actors from simply crossing to the other side of the street and carrying on as if nothing had happened.”
Bollinger pointed to the U.S., UK, Hong Kong and Singapore as already having similar systems in place, and believes Switzerland would benefit from this in the long term.
NEED TO RESTORE REPUTATION
“Switzerland already has a due diligence system at the management level; it should consider expanding it further, as is the case in other countries,” he added.
Bollinger told NZZ there was a need for Switzerland to restore its reputation following the collapse of Credit Suisse.
Asked about speculation of UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, relocating its headquarters to the U.S., Bollinger said “Swissness” continues to be a mark of quality.
“I’m convinced that being a Swiss bank is also advantageous for UBS, especially in these times,” he said, highlighting that clients look to Switzerland to seek stability and predictability amid geopolitical uncertainties.
“There is a strong trend that international clients also want to keep their money in Switzerland again,” he said.
The FT reported in November that UBS had held talks on moving its headquarters to the U.S., which the bank responded to by saying it wants to continue operating from Switzerland.
Julius Baer on Monday reported a net profit of 764 million Swiss francs ($988 million) for 2025, a 25% drop from 2024 that still beat analysts’ expectations in a year marked by writedowns.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by David Holmes)
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