Checklist: assessing the culture of a wealth management institution
Conclusion of Part B
The Calvinist Reformation profoundly transformed Geneva. It gave the city its independence, its institutions, its culture and its international network. It formulated an ethic of credit, work and wealth that distinguishes legitimate gain from exploitation. It created institutions of welfare and education that shaped Geneva society for centuries.
The financial centre itself would be born later, from the meeting between these institutions, the networks of the Huguenot diaspora, the accumulation of capital within the Geneva elite and the financial needs of the great European monarchies. Part C traces this meeting, from the Refuge of the seventeenth century to the Geneva bankers of the French monarchy and the upheavals of the late eighteenth century.
Checklist: assessing the culture of a wealth management institution
- Examine how the institution formulates its values and verify that they are reflected in its procedures, incentives and concrete decisions.
- Analyse the remuneration systems and make sure that they do not reward excessive risk-taking or the sale of unsuitable products.
- Check the time horizon of the investment strategy offered to clients and its consistency with the objectives of preserving wealth.
- Assess the quality of the management of conflicts of interest, particularly with regard to retrocessions and in-house products.
- Evaluate how the institution handles warning signs relating to money laundering and sanctions, and the protection afforded to the staff who report them.
- Check the consistency between the discourse on sustainability and actual investment practices.
- Observe how the institution reacts to its own mistakes: acknowledgement, correction, compensation and improvement of processes.
For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.