State Secretariat for International Finance - SIF

Education, openness, innovation. These three assets have enabled Switzerland to build one of the world's most competitive financial centres. Other key factors are the country's sound political system and efficient public authorities.

The annual key figures on the Swiss financial centre are updated each April.

The global financial and economic crisis in 2008 and the UBS takeover of Credit Suisse showed that a big bank encountering serious difficulties can constitute a considerable burden for the economy, even in Switzerland. The Federal Council wants to prevent such banks from being too big to fail and to prevent the state from having to use tax revenues to save them.

Digitalisation is changing the economy and many business models. Consequently, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is preparing proposals as to how corporate taxation can be adapted to the new developments in the longer term. Switzerland is actively involved in this work.

Sustainability in the financial sector may no longer be at the top of the political and media agenda, but the issue remains important and represents a major opportunity for the Swiss financial centre. The government primarily acts as mediator and facilitator in this context, cultivating an intensive dialogue with the financial industry and interested third parties and supporting the creation of an optimal regulatory framework.