Revised banking law takes effect in October
The Swiss government announced Wednesday that the revised banking law will come into force on October 1. This means that cantonal banks in Switzerland will soon be on an equal footing with other commercial banks.
The Swiss government announced Wednesday that the revised banking law will come into force on October 1. This means that cantonal banks in Switzerland will soon be on an equal footing with other commercial banks.
Adopted by parliament in April, the revision in particular abolishes the obligation of a state guarantee for cantonal banks. And in future, the canton will only have to hold at least a third of the capital and voting rights.
The cantonal banks, whose activities have widely been diversified over the past few years, will have a wider margin to manoeuvre against the competition under the terms of the revised law.
The revision follows serious problems — faced by certain cantonal banks — which showed that the state guarantee and a prudent bank management did not always go hand in hand.
The guarantee also hindered mergers creating regional banks wanting to operate in more than one canton.
From SRI staff.
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