 SWISS BANKERS ASSOCIATION
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Swiss Bankers Association (SBA)
Founded in Basle in 1912, the Swiss Bankers Association is the umbrella organisation for the Swiss financial industry. Virtually all of the country's banks, auditors and securities dealers are members. The SBA's main functions are to represent its members' interests vis-à-vis the authorities in Switzerland and abroad, and to promote self-regulation in conjunction with the Federal Banking Commission (FBC).
488 member institutions
Admission to the SBA must be approved by a committee appointed by the Board of Directors. Accepted member institutions appoint their own representatives (generally speaking, the members of the Executive Board and senior management) as individual members of the SBA. At the end of March, there were 488 member institutions and 5,627 individual members.
In addition to its Annual General Meeting, which takes place once a year as part of the Swiss Bankers Day, the Swiss Bankers Association comprises the following officers and bodies: a Board of Directors, a Committee, appointed by the Board of Directors, an office which deals with the Association's daily business, as well as various commissions, project groups and expert groups.
The Board of Directors, which is elected at the Annual General Meeting, defines the fundamental direction of the SBA's activities. A committee appointed by the Board of Directors decides on matters such as statements from the Association in approval proceedings. The office run by the Chief Executive Officer deals with the Association's daily business and represents the SBA vis-à-vis the authorities, other organisations and public bodies, both in Switzerland and abroad. Finally, in the various commissions, project groups and expert groups, representatives of the banks join with the Association's office to deal with specialist issues on behalf of the Board of Directors.
For a secure and efficient financial centre
In its efforts to maintain Switzerland's financial centre, the SBA seeks to preserve security for depositors and the stability of the system. A key aspect in this regard is to take account of the rapidly changing market environment and the differing structures and banking groups.
One of the SBA's increasingly important roles is to promote the Swiss financial centre abroad. In spring 1999, it launched "Swiss Plus - Financial Excellence", an initiative under which it stages presentations on Switzerland's financial industry for foreign audiences together with its financial centre partners. The presentations are aimed at highlighting the strengths of the Swiss financial centre and its euro-compatibility, and seek to eradicate misconceptions and to reinforce dialogue with partners outside Switzerland. Particular emphasis is placed on the fact that Switzerland has more to offer than just traditional private banking - in fact with the Swiss Value Chain it can even offer a unique services package for securities trading.
Facts and Figures
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