Competition within Switzerland: Zurich, Lugano, Basel

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Competition between financial centres does not stop at national borders. Zurich, eleventh in the Global Financial Centres Index of March 2026, is seven places ahead of Geneva and concentrates the large bank, the stock exchange, the insurers and a growing share of institutional asset management and fintechs.¹ The linguistic division of Swiss finance, described in Part J, is also a competition for head offices, group functions and talent. When an international group chooses a Swiss location, Zurich most often prevails for corporate banking, insurance and asset management, Geneva for private wealth management and commodity trading. The management, risk and compliance functions of groups present in both cities tend to concentrate in Zurich, with consequences for skilled employment in Geneva.

Lugano and Basel complete the landscape. Lugano, the third Swiss banking centre, serves an Italian clientele and suffered more severely than Geneva from the end of banking secrecy, with a marked reduction in its workforce. It has repositioned itself towards crypto assets and digital assets and towards clients from southern Europe.² Basel houses the Bank for International Settlements and the head office of the Swiss Bankers Association, which makes it a standard-setting centre more than a business centre. Zug, with its Crypto Valley, attracts financial technology companies through its taxation. This internal competition has one advantage: it obliges Geneva to distinguish itself while giving it nearby partners, under the same law and in the same currency, for the functions it cannot perform alone.

Notes

The Global Financial Centres Index 39, March 2026, cited above: Zurich in eleventh place, Geneva in eighteenth. ↩
City of Lugano, “Plan B” (planb.lugano.ch): initiative established in 2022 with Tether, with bitcoin and Tether (USDT) serving as de facto means of payment for municipal services (“100% City dues and taxes payable in BTC and USDT”), more than 360 businesses accepting bitcoin, USDT and LVGA, Plan B Forum bringing together more than 2,500 participants; the aim of making Lugano “the European hub for Bitcoin, blockchain, and decentralized technologies”; FSO, press release of 18 November 2025: 3.6% of the value added of Swiss commodity trading in Ticino. ↩

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.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

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Competition within Switzerland: Zurich, Lugano, Basel

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