Swiss banking system has a long and reputable history. Many of us know that Swiss bank industry is one of the strongest and safest around the world. However, I guess the best quality of Swiss banks is their secrecy and privacy. of Swiss bank account. Actually Swiss banks secrecy dates back to the Middle Ages. This old principle was codified in the Banking Law of 1934.
The Swiss bank system is very well developed. All banks are regulated by a specialized public law entity – Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. The bank industry includes around 400 banks with two very big banks UBS, the largest one, and Credit Suisse, the second largest, and other small banks. UBS and Credit Suisse have large branch networks both throughout the country but also in many international financial centers. For example, if you want to open Swiss bank account you can easily find main offices of the UBS in the United States, in London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. You can open a Swiss bank account in one of its branches which are located on five continents.
The first step in opening a Swiss bank account is to contact a
representative of the bank in which you would like to open the account and ask for conditions in this regard. Swiss banks open accounts for both residents and non-residents. However, many Swiss banks have for the non-residents a minimum deposit requirement. The initial deposit requirement varies from bank to bank but one thing is certain that the deposit for non-residents in much higher than that for residents. In addition, small accounts are a bit expensive to maintain.
In order to keep the reputable image, the Swiss banks will not accept opening bank accounts too easily. The domestic law of Switzerland regulates very strictly money-laundering, that is why Swiss banks are required in a way to be sufficiently sure that the person that wants to open a Swiss bank account is not into criminal activities. This requirement in a way makes the opening of an account a long procedure. For example some banks may require clients to pass an interview where the potential client is asked about the reasons of opening the bank account and how financial means will be used. After evaluation of all the information and submitted documents the bank actually takes a formal decision regarding opening a bank account for a certain person. Anyways, all these rules may vary from bank to bank as they are enshrined in their internal regulations and bank policies. So, if you actually decide that you want/need to open a Swiss bank account you must be aware of the existence of different formalities around this procedure