Swiss bankers are caught between two fires – it seems that the hitherto impartial country must urgently decide which side to support. Decision-making can be quite complicated, since public opinion demands the patronage of the Ukrainians, but from the point of view of the economy, a good relationship with the Russians is vital.
The managers of the financial institutions operating in Switzerland warned the government that the Ukrainian-sympathetic attitude is not viewed favorably by foreign creditors. The unnamed bank employees a Financial Times daily, that the trust of their wealthy Chinese clients is at war with Swiss banks. The reason for this is most likely that the state administration said goodbye to its political neutrality. In addition, in compliance with the sanctions, he froze billions of Russian-owned assets.
In February 2023, for example, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO – State Secretariat for Economic Affairs) reported that it had frozen roughly $8.1 billion in Russian capital. In addition, Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, announced that it had frozen approximately $19 billion worth of Russian-related items. The financial institution in question is quite bold with this move, in light of the fact that last October the American Fed had to pull it out of the mess.
“We were not only surprised that Switzerland threw away its impartiality, we were really shocked by it. We can prove with statistical data that hundreds of clients previously wanted to open an account with us. However, this number is now almost equal to zero”explained a board member.
The British press managed to talk to experts who have insight into the operation of Switzerland’s largest credit companies.
“The issue of sanctions was a recurring theme among our clients”an employee stated. “There were a lot of concerns regarding this in the last months of last year. They debated whether they would be able to keep their money safe with us.”
The Swiss banking sector is the most popular center for offshore financial wealth in the world. So much so that a quarter of the total global offshore capital is grouped here, and it also accounts for 10% of the country’s GDP.
