Swiss Banks Have Increased the Amount of Deposits During the Coronacrisis; The eight largest Swiss banks raised more than $86 billion in client funds in the first half of 2020, swissinfo reports citing Swiss public television. At the same time, six of them increased more than in the same period last year.
UBS had the largest net increase (up $22.4 billion, +1% year-over-year). Zurich Cantonal Bank (+444% or $14.66 billion) became the leader in terms of the relative indicator.
Most of the funds were transferred from Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. Thus, according to Bloomberg, the British billionaire, the owner of the JCB construction equipment company Anthony Bamford, transferred about $6 billion from the Caribbean countries to Swiss banks.
At the same time, the journalists noted, there are no employees in the JCB office in Lausanne (JCB Group Holdings was established at the end of 2019), although about 15 thousand people work for the Bamford empire around the world. The only person who appeared in the premises rented by the group refused to answer questions.
“For international clients facing a global health and economic crisis, Switzerland is a haven of stability and security,” said Édouard Cuende, director of the Geneva Financial Center.
In turn, lawyer Philippe Quesnel noted that Switzerland is a country that has coped well with the crisis and also has a good healthcare system.
In addition, experts noted that Switzerland has a favorable taxation system.