Basel, 28 February 2006 - The Swiss banking industry as a whole enjoys a good reputation amongst the Swiss. The personal satisfaction of the Swiss with their own main bank has markedly increased, with 86% of respondents saying they have a ”positive” or “very positive” opinion of their own main bank. In addition, 59% say they have a “positive” or “very positive” view of the banking industry as a whole - an increase of 6% over last year. Support for bank-client confidentiality is also slightly up, with 80% saying they are in favour of maintaining it. These are just some of the findings of this year’s survey carried out for the Swiss Bankers Association by MIS-Trend of Lausanne.

For several years now the Swiss Bankers Association has commissioned surveys of Swiss citizens to find out about their relationship with the Swiss banking sector and their views on the overall significance of banks for the Swiss economy. This year’s questions were virtually the same as those of previous years and this continuity allows the best possible comparison of results and permits any trends to be reliably identified.

Swiss banks held in high regard
The personal satisfaction of the Swiss with their own main bank (i.e. the bank with which they conduct most of their banking business) has markedly increased compared with last year’s survey. Some 86% (2005: 79%) say they have a “positive” or “very positive” opinion of their own main bank. In addition, attitudes towards the banking industry as a whole have improved, with 59% (2005: 53%) saying they have a “positive” or “very positive” attitude of banks in general. As in previous years, respondents believe the strengths of the Swiss financial centre lie in its trustworthiness (73%), soundness (76%) and in the competence of its workforce (72%). In this year’s survey the banking industry scored its best results since 2001. In comparison with last year, the general economic prospects for 2006 are also judged to be more positive. Around 43% of respondents say they assume the economic situation in Switzerland will improve over the next 12 months.

Swiss citizens support bank-client confidentiality
This year’s survey also shows very clearly that the Swiss attach great importance to privacy with regard to their financial affairs. An overwhelming majority of 92% say it is correct that information about the financial affairs of bank clients should be protected vis-à-vis third parties. When asked specifically about bank-client confidentiality, 80% (2005: 78%) said they are in favour of maintaining it. The fact that international pressure on bank-client confidentiality was lower compared with previous years at the time the survey was conducted seemed not to have influenced respondents. 72% again said Switzerland should not give in to international pressure and renounce bank-client confidentiality. In addition, 68% (2005: 64%) believe that bank-client confidentiality will probably exist in its same form in five years’ time. This year’s survey once again confirms that financial privacy is strongly supported by the Swiss.

Note to journalists:
The survey was based on a sample of 1,016 Swiss citizens and the margin of error is + / - 3.1%. The survey was carried out in January 2006.

Survey 2006 (in PDF German and PDF French only)

Contacts
Thomas Sutter	James Nason
Head of Communications Switzerland	Head of International Communications
Swiss Bankers Association, Basel	Swiss Bankers Association, Basel
Tel. +41 61 295 92 06	Tel. +41 61 295 92 15
Fax +41 61 272 53 82	Fax +41 61 272 53 82
www.swissbanking.org	www.swissbanking.org