27.03.2007 A universal Swiss bank, Banque de Commerce et de Placements (BCP), announced that it has been granted a license to operate from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The license was issued by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). BCP with headquarters in Geneva, is regulated by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission. Its new DFSA accreditation strengthenes the bank's commitment to working on its growing client base in the region. Four primary activities of BCP's operations are trade finance, correspondent banking, treasury and private banking.
27.03.2007 New self-regulatory guidelines that govern the information that banks must provide to investors about structured products is being issued by the Swiss Bankers Association. The new guidelines implementing the provisions of the Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes (CISA) dealing with investor protection aim at increasing transparency for the investor as well as preserve issuers' capacity for innovation. The guidelines will come into effect on July 1, 2007. The CISA, which is in force since the beginning of 2007, requires that banks produce a simplified prospectus with information in order to protect investors in structured products.
07.03.2007 According to opinion poll 2007, the Swiss support bank-client confidentiality and privacy and strongly believe in their financial centre. In general, banks can boast of a very good image in Switzerland. 59% of the polled regard their financial institutions positively. 67% believe that the banking industry is the most economically important economic sector of Switzerland. It is worth noting that or the 1st time these positive attitudes have been recorded in French-speaking Switzerland, which previously was critical of the financial sector. About 4 out of 5 respondents judged the competitiveness of the Swiss financial centre to be either higher or equal to the competitiveness of foreign competitors. 79% of Swiss support bank-client confidentiality.
