The system providers: Temenos and the others

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Geneva, a financial centre with little technology of its own, nevertheless hosts one of the world’s leading providers of banking software. Temenos, founded in Geneva in 1993 by George Koukis and Kim Goodall and listed on the Swiss stock exchange since 2001, supplies its core systems to more than three thousand financial institutions in one hundred and forty-five countries and counts forty-one of the fifty largest banks in the world among its clients. Its revenue reached USD 1.04 billion in 2024.¹ In 2024 the company weathered an attack by a short seller alleging accounting irregularities, which an independent review published in April 2024 found to be inaccurate.² The presence in Geneva of a global provider is a discreet asset: it draws engineers, consultants and clients to Geneva. It is also a reminder that the financial centre can produce technology when the entrepreneur happens to be there.

The Swiss market for banking systems is concentrated among a few providers, Swiss and foreign, on which Geneva’s banks depend for their daily operations.³ This dependence has consequences: changing system is an operation lasting several years and costing several tens of millions of francs, which medium-sized banks dread. The quality of the provider determines the institution’s capacity to innovate. The providers themselves are changing, migrating their systems to the cloud and integrating artificial intelligence, which shifts to them part of the governance and resilience questions that FINMA addresses to the banks.

Notes

“Temenos AG”, en.wikipedia.org (accessed September 2026): founded in 1993 in Geneva by George Koukis and Kim Goodall, listed on the Swiss stock exchange in 2001, more than 3,000 client financial institutions in 145 countries, 41 of the 50 largest banks in the world, revenue of USD 1.04 billion in 2024. ↩
“Temenos AG”, cited above: report by Hindenburg Research in February 2024, independent review published in April 2024. ↩
ICTjournal, “Avaloq et Finnova dominent le marché des logiciels bancaires” (Avaloq and Finnova dominate the banking software market) (Active Sourcing study, Swiss Banking Premium 2011): among banks with more than 500 employees, Avaloq held 41% of the market, in-house solutions 21%, Finnova 12%, Olympic 9% and Temenos 9%; among banks with fewer than 500 employees, Finnova 39%, Ambit 17%, Avaloq 12% and Olympic 9%. ↩

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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The system providers: Temenos and the others

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?