Requests and complaints to the Swiss banking ombudsman have gone up by a quarter. In 1999, the office dealt with a total of 1,467 cases, many concerning dormant accounts.

At a news conference in Zurich, the ombudsman, Hanspeter Häni, gave details of his activities last year, saying 600 requests were made in connection with dormant accounts.

Häni interpreted the rise in his caseload as proof that both banks and bank clients were showing increasing confidence in the banking ombudsman.

The number of written requests soared by 60 per cent last year to 730. However, the number of telephone inquiries remained the same at 640 calls.

In 76 cases, the ombudsman recommended that the bank concerned make a full correction or pay compensation. In 70 others, a compromise solution had been found.

swissinfo with agencies

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative