“Usually a hub has a strong position either in banking or in trading. It is a unique combination to have banks and traders in the same place.”

Geert Descheemaeker
Secretary General of the Geneva Trading
and Shipping Association (GTSA)

GGBa: a byword for sophistication

Banking, like chocolate, will forever be associated with Switzerland. But beyond the cliché and on a practical level, the country’s exceptionally advanced level of financial expertise means that companies in the GREATER GENEVA BERNE area (GGBa) can expect durable solutions for funding, money transfers, financial and wealth management. According to the World Economic Forum, Switzerland’s banks continue to weather the financial storm better than their international competitors, helping to make the country one of the world’s most competitive economies.

The country has some of the most prestigious international banks, and handles more than SFr 4,700 billion (about $4 trillion) in assets, of which more than 60% comes from foreign countries. More than 400 financial institutions and 150 foreign banks are based in Switzerland, attracted by a tradition of low inflation and low interest rates.

Financing in the GGBa

On a cantonal level, investors in the GGBa have access to the full range of banking services, including branches of the most prominent Swiss banks, several foreign banks and numerous wealth management institutions. Usefully, the region’s financial institutions, venture capital firms and Business Angels are unusually knowledgeable about new technologies, thanks to the many high value-added industries on their doorstep.

• Equally important, the GGBa’s cantonal banks are tasked with supporting and financing the region’s economic players without focusing exclusively on profit.

importance of Geneva

Within the GGBa, Geneva is a genuine benchmark for other international financial centers, second only to London for international trade finance in Europe. It is where the two big Swiss banks, Credit Suisse and UBS -the leading fund managers in Europe - manage their biggest asset volumes. The city is regarded as among the most stable financial hubs in the world, a fact confirmed by the Bank of China’s recent decision to open two subsidiaries in the city.

Established Genevan private banks such as Pictet & Cie, LODH and Mirabeaud are among the world’s most prestigious institutions and it is thanks to their homegrown expertise that so many foreign banks have come to the city to establish subsidiary private asset management operations. Today, Geneva’s financial center boasts nearly 140 banks – of which 60 are foreign-owned, 2,800 financial services firms and 700 independents offering their expertise. In total, some 34,100 people contribute to Geneva’s predominant place in Swiss – and world – finance.

commodities expertise

Geneva, with such companies as Cargill, Bunge, Mercuria, Vitol, Litasco or Trafigura, is also one of the most important bases for commodities trading. The city handles around one-fifth of the world’s shipping contracts, one-half of the world’s coffee transactions and one-third of the world’s traded cotton, cereal, oil-producing products and sugar. Growing trade in this last commodity is now largely responsible for the region’s development as a center for trade in ethanol.

diverse range of services

Simultaneously, a comprehensive network of related activities and service providers has also developed, including international lawyers, fiduciaries and auditors, management and business consultants, insurance and reinsurance companies, inspection and arbitration firms, computer specialists, information security specialists, shipbuilders, free ports and warehouses. The region of Berne has more financial advisers, lawyers and firms of trustees than anywhere else in Switzerland.