Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern,

The bank merger of the decade is going to change the Swiss financial landscape – quite literally. Not only is the name Credit Suisse set to disappear from buildings across Switzerland’s towns and cities, but some analysts are estimating dozens of branches of both Credit Suisse and UBS are bound to close, since they tend to sit across the street from each other.

The more important question, though, is who will take up residence in those soon-to-be empty spaces in prime urban locations. Personally I’m rooting for more bakeries per square kilometre in the centre of Bern, for those emergency pains au chocolat moments.

© Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

In the News: More sanctions against Russia, bankers guilty in “Putin’s wallet” case, and Swiss kids choose socialising over watching TV

• The Swiss government is implementing a tenth package of European Union sanctions against Russia that will see a tightening of controls and restrictions on the export of goods destined for the Russian military, technology and defence sectors, among other measures.
• Four executives have been found guilty by a Zurich district court of helping Putin ally Sergey Roldugin – dubbed “Putin’s wallet” by the Swiss government – scurry away millions of francs in Swiss bank accounts between 2014-2016.
• Limits on leisure activities during the Covid-19 pandemic had no lasting impact on primary-school kids, who still prefer to do sports and socialise over watching TV or going online, a new study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences has found.

Keystone / Steffen Schmidt

Swiss city streetscapes minus the big rival banks

Up to 75 UBS and Credit Suisse bank branches could be on the chopping block, an analysis by Swiss public television RTS concludesExternal link.

It’s not just on Paradeplatz in Zurich – now a familiar image to those who’ve been following the Credit Suisse debacle – where UBS stands just across the street from its rival. An astounding three-quarters of the 98 Credit Suisse bank branches in Switzerland are located within 400 metres of a UBS branch.

Distance between branches could be a decisive factor – though likely not the only one – in determining which ones get to stay and which ones will be forced to close, RTS reports.

In the big cities, especially, the newly merged entity could decide to maintain branches within proximity of each other by giving them separate responsibilities, like asset management or pension fund services, RTS speculates.

What’s more, history has shown that it won’t be just Credit Suisse branches that could end up disappearing, but UBS outlets too. When Credit Suisse merged with the Banque Populaire Suisse (the Volksbank) in 1993, for instance, a total of 62 branches of the two banks were shuttered.

But just as with the number of jobs that could potentially be on the line with its purchase, so far UBS has said nothing about the impact on branches – only that it would try to reduce costs by CHF7.5 billion ($8.2 billion).

On the future of Credit Suisse employees, UBS Chair Colm Kellerher has told the press his bank is keen to keep the best investment bankers from its soon-to-be defunct rival, but that they would have to go through a “culture filter” to assess how they fit with UBS values and its approach to risk.

“We have to let everybody through a culture filter to make sure that we do not import something into our ecosystem that causes issues,” said Kelleher, in a veiled reference to risky investments Credit Suisse has made in the past, most notably in Greensill and Archegos, that led to billions in losses and, arguably, its downfall.

© Keystone / Michael Buholzer

A piece of the Jurassic era up for grabs in Zurich

Dinosaur fans of all ages who happen to be in Zurich in the next three weeks are in for a real threat: the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rexgoing up for sale at an auction on April 18 is now on displayExternal link at Tonhalle music hall in the city.

The skeleton of the T-Rex, which roamed Earth 67 million years ago, was assembled using fossils from three specimens uncovered in the United States between 2008 and 2013. The auction house Koller Auktionen calls the skeletonExternal link – dubbed Trinity – one of the most spectacular T-Rex skeletons in the world. Over 11 metres long and close to 4 metres tall, it’s one of just 32 fossils of adult T-Rexes in the world to have been discovered so far.

One of the particularities of Trinity is its original skull, taken from a single specimen. Finding the skull of dinosaurs is rare, according to a historian at Koller.

The market for dinosaurs is a healthy one, the historian told RTS – so much so that Trinity is expected to fetch at least CHF6 million ($6.5 million).

Those who don’t have that kind of pocket change can still get up close and personal with Trinity before the sale by trying their luck for a ticket to view the skeleton on the Koller websiteExternal link. (Warning: tickets are going fast!)