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2008 Swiss Bankers Association Survey:
solid, reliable
and trustworthy – the Swiss support their financial centre |
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Basel, 25 March 2008 – Switzerland’s banking sector
continues to enjoy a very good reputation despite the recent turbulence in global financial markets.
A large majority (72%) of the Swiss participants in the SBA’s survey still have no doubts about the
solidity and reliability of their main bank (2007: 71%). Equally gratifying was the finding that more
than half of the respondents had a positive attitude towards Swiss banks in general. In particular,
an above-average 61% of the 18-to-29 age group had a positive attitude. Bank-client confidentiality
was supported by 81%, with 79% regarding it as worth protecting in the face of international pressure.
There was a slight improvement in the assessment of the international competitiveness of Switzerland’s
financial institutions, with 59% regarding the country’s banks as being at an advantage over their foreign
rivals.
The banking sector continues to be well regarded by the
Swiss people; its standing remains at the same level as in 2006. In this year’s survey, 57% of respondents
had a positive or very positive opinion (2007: 59%). Younger participants (18 to 29) were remarkably
positive, while 50-to-59-year-olds were among the most critical. It is to be noted that the more positive
attitude among 18-to-29-year-olds was evident in the responses to almost all the questions and has been
relatively constant in recent years’ surveys (2003 to 2008). As in previous years, the strengths of
the financial centre lay in its trustworthiness (68%) and reliability, as well as in its solidity (72%)
and in the professional competence of its staff (69%). This year for the first time the figures stabilised
at a high level against the previous year. Personal satisfaction among Swiss people with their main
bank remained constant. The issue of the international competitiveness of Switzerland’s banks and of
the Swiss financial centre was included for the first time a year ago, and continuing with this section
of the survey allows comparisons to be made. The respondents had an even better assessment of the situation
in 2008. When asked how Switzerland’s banks and financial centre fare against competitors from the UK,
Singapore, Luxembourg and the US, 59% saw domestic institutions as being at an advantage (2007: 54%).
A majority of over 60% continued to hold the opinion that the situation would not change significantly
in the next five years.
Swiss people clearly in favour of bank-client confidentiality
The
2008 survey once again provides solid confirmation of the strong support which bank-client confidentiality
enjoys among the Swiss people. It clearly shows the importance attached to the protection of bank clients’
financial data. An overwhelming majority of 91% regards protection against unauthorised third-party access as correct.
When asked specifically about bank-client confidentiality, 81% of participants were in support of retaining
it (2007: 79%). Indeed, 79% of participants believed that there should be no question of yielding to
possible pressure from abroad by waiving bank-client confidentiality. And 74% also regarded it as probable that bank-client confidentiality would still be in place in its
current form in five years’ time (2007: 72%).
Press release
For
several years now, the Swiss Bankers Association has commissioned representative surveys of citizens
living in Switzerland asking them about their attitudes toward the banking sector and about the general
importance of banks for the Swiss economy. The full results of the 2008 survey are available in French
and German at www.swissbanking.org. The survey covers a sample of 1,012 citizens living in Switzerland
aged between 18 and 74. The sampling error is no greater than +/-3.1%. The survey was conducted in January
2008 by the independent research company M.I.S Trend, Lausanne.
Opinion
Poll 2008 (in PDF German and PDF French only)
| Contacts |
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| Thomas Sutter |
James Nason |
| Head of Communications Switzerland |
Head of International Communications |
| 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 |
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Junior
Bank
