Switzerland: Financial Sector Assessment Program: Technical Note: The Swiss Banking System: Structure, Performance, and Medium-Term Challenges
IMF Staff Country Reports, June 13, 2007
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- Switzerland: Financial Sector Assessment Program: Technical Note: The Swiss Banking System: Structure, Performance, and Medium-Term Challenges
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Bibliographic details
- Published: June 13, 2007
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451807349.002
Executive summary and scope
- Technical note discussing the banking system structure, performance, and medium-term challenges for Switzerland.
- The Swiss banking sector has been undergoing a substantial consolidation over the last 10 years, but retains a rich collection of institutional types operating in various business segments.
- Consolidation has been partly driven by competitive pressures following the burst of the housing market bubble and entailed a substantial reduction in the number of institutions and branches.
- Smaller banks have been also developing owing to various types of cost-sharing arrangements.
Key findings on structure and market segments
- The sector retains a "rich collection of institutional types" operating in various business segments.
- Noted institutional types and subjects: Banking, Commercial banks, Cooperative banks, Financial institutions, Foreign banks.
- Keywords and indicators emphasized: bank assets, bank concentration ratios, bank segment, cantonal bank, Commercial banks, Cooperative banks, CR, Foreign banks, Global, ISCR, Productivity, Raiffeisen bank, TE estimate, Total factor productivity.
Performance and drivers of consolidation
- Consolidation observed over the last 10 years.
- Competitive pressures following the burst of the housing market bubble identified as a driver of consolidation.
- Consolidation resulted in a substantial reduction in the number of institutions and branches.
Medium-term challenges and sector dynamics
- Ongoing consolidation alongside persistence of diverse institutional forms implies adaptation challenges across business segments.
- Growth of smaller banks facilitated by various types of cost-sharing arrangements signals changing competitive and operational models within the Swiss banking system.
Content in this bundle
- _cr07199 - References