The Swiss Private Bankers Association is a Swiss trade association made up of banking institutions that meet the legal definition of a private banker according to Swiss law. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, and currently has six members.
The Swiss Private Bankers Association was founded in 1934 following the enactment of the Federal Act on Banks and Saving Banks, which recognised the special status of private bankers. Its permanent secretariat is based in Geneva. The objective of the Swiss Private Bankers Association, as defined in its articles of association, is to represent the concerns and interests of its members to the Swiss government authorities, among others.
History
The history of private bankers in Switzerland is closely linked to the country's economic development as well as that of its main cities: Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel, St. Gallen and Zurich. Most private bankers began as trading houses, evolving over the years into financial institutions.
A nascent industry
In Basel, the Reformation of 1521 brought large numbers of refugees to the city, where they grew prosperous from the silk trade. This development turned Basel into a main centre of banking and finance.
The history of private bankers in Geneva started around 1550, with the influx of Huguenots fleeing persecution in France shortly after the city of Calvin proclaimed itself a Republic. These Protestant refugees were members of the merchant class and were equipped with substantial wealth, commercial and financial know-how, and personal connections in all the main European cities. Present in every international market, over time they built up a unique expertise in bills of exchange, precious metals and credits. 'This created favourable conditions for bankers in Geneva to engage in transactions that were not directly connected to trade, enabling them to further develop their activities beyond their borders'.
Shortly before the French Revolution, Geneva bankers discovered a new area in which 'they would excel from then on': wealth management, which to this day remains a main focus for Swiss private bankers. 'They were often [...] capitalists who invested their own wealth, along with that of their family members or friends'.
Most of the Swiss private banking houses were established around this time, mid-eighteenth century. They were the most influential players in the Swiss banking system. The defining characteristic of their legal structure was the unlimited liability of partners.
The pioneers included : In Geneva: Lombard, Odier & Cie (1796), Pictet & Cie (1805), Mirabaud & Cie (1819), Bordier & Cie (1844), Gonet & Cie (1845), Pivot & Cie (renamed Mourgue d’Algue in 1976), and Darier & Cie (1880); In Lausanne: Landolt & Cie (1780) and Hentsch Chollet & Cie (1882); In Basel: La Roche & Co. (1787), Sarasin & Cie (1841) and E. Gutzwiller & Cie (1886); In Bern: Marcuard & Cie (1746); In St Gallen: Wegelin & Co (1741); In Zurich: Rahn Bodmer Co. (1750).
However, private bankers were unable to meet the increasing need for finance brought about by the rapid development of industry in the second half of the 19th century. It was around this time that their first rivals appeared, in the form of credit banks structured as limited liability companies. In Geneva, during the last quarter of the 19th century, 'competition intensified due to the establishment [...] of the first foreign banks' followed, in the early 20th century, by large Swiss banks.
To bolster their position in relation to competitors of a new kind, private bankers created the first permanent banking syndicates, which can be seen as the ancestors of the Swiss Private Bankers Association: the Quatuor (1840) and the Omnium (1849), followed by Union financière de Genève (1890), which remained active until December 2013 under the name Groupement des Banquiers Privés Genevois.
In Basel, where the sector emerges much later than in Geneva, around the mid-19th century, Private bankers were responsible for founding the Swiss Bank Corporation (which merged with UBS in 1998). Indeed, Basel private bankers created two separate banking syndicates, the Bankverein and the Kleiner Bankverein. The former set up the Basler Bankverein, the ancestor of SBC, in 1872, while the latter founded the Basler Handelsbank, purchased by SBC in 1945.