10. Obscure Swiss Private Banking

Armed with the data gleaned from the UBS case, U.S. investigators unearthed numerous cases of tax avoidance, whereby Swiss banks had helped their U.S. clientele. The result was the famed tax dispute between the hegemon and Switzerland and dozens of investigations into the activities of Swiss firms. They also unearthed practices by Swiss private banks that were no less than obscure in their attempts to wash assets and to help avoid tax paying.

The Swiss banks were forced to pay billions in fines and myth of invincibility was gone forever.

11. Payments in Germany

The 2009 strategy decision to only bank with taxed assets in future brought to light a large number of cases of tax avoidance in Germany. UBS had to pay 300 million euros to settle the cases. But that was only the beginning, because several regional and private banks had dealt with similar cases and were forced to pay fines in the neighboring country, which is Europe’s largest economy.

12. Manipulation Upon Manipulation

For more than a decade, reputable banks manipulated a series of key rates on the capital market, including the Libor and target rates for forex and the gold exchange. Swiss banks weren’t alone in this meddling, with foreign companies being equally sanctioned in the U.S., the U.K. and Switzerland.

But the fact that UBS and Credit Suisse were part of this damaging practice won’t have helped the image of Swiss banking one bit. And we are likely not to have read the last page in this chapter.

13. The Scandal About the Farmers’ Bank

Raiffeisen for years was the epitome of honest banking – winning market share from the big two as a consequence. CEO Pierin Vincenz was the manager responsible for the emergence of the former farmers’ bank into a competitive financial market player. He gained an image of respectability and reliability – until he was allegedly found to have helped himself through a series of insider activities.

Today, Vincenz is in custody and his fall from grace has dragged one of Switzerland’s four main banks into a massive crisis of faith. Chairman Johannes Ruuegg-Stuerm resigned; interim Chairman Pascal Gantenbein is working on damage limitation and CEO Patrik Gisel is struggling to uphold his personal good reputation.

Banking Career? No Thanks!

The scandal of Raiffeisen has dragged the industry into a new level of destruction. It really doesn’t surprise that the job as a banker has become less and less attractive.