The interest-rate business accounts for about 70 percent of the bank’s profit. So you should diversify more.

We are already doing so through organic growth. We have seen with Raiffeisen Group the disadvantages of growth through acquisitions. The biggest negative is often the clash of corporate cultures, which we want to avoid.

But not from encroaching on other cantonal bank’s patches. Why should someone living in the canton of Bern deal with you when the Bern cantonal bank is just around the corner?

The other cantonal banks aren’t our target, and apart from our online channel we are not chasing private clients. We are looking to win market share from rivals who are less well capitalized and have higher profit margin expectations than us. So I think the large banks like UBS and Credit Suisse would be happy to pass their low-margin business onto us.

You know this market well, having moved from UBS to Barclays, where you were country manager of its investment bank. Does your new strategy reflect your past?

No, the strategy is team work, with contributions from the business leadership and the bank council. It reflects the current situation and our estimation of what the medium-term future will look like.

There is an ongoing discussion on governance, given what has happened at the Raiffeisen Schweiz. One sticking point is whether the bank president needs to come from the banking sector. How do you as bank head see the issue?

Some sector knowledge is desirable at a system-relevant bank as it creates respect and allow interaction on the key banking themes. It also helps when one has lived through crises.

Kuno Kennel has been chairman of Schwyzer Kantonalbank's bank council since 2012. He has as a colorful career in investment banking behind him: he began in 1989 at UBS predecessor SBG before moving to Bank ABN Amro in 1998, where he rose to country head in 2007. Most recently was CEO of Barclays Capital in Switzerland.