The history of the Swiss financial centres is a sequence of decisions, crises and reforms, and many of today's rules can only be understood in its light. The entries in this series place the key dates in context, from the franchises of Geneva in 1387 and the rise of Lyon's fairs to banking secrecy in 1934, the Bergier Commission and the end of secrecy for foreign taxpayers. Each entry explains what happened, who was involved, why it mattered at the time and what it left behind in the law and practice of the Swiss financial centres today. Read together, the entries show how a city of fairs became a centre of banking, how banking secrecy was built and dismantled, and why Swiss institutions still bear the marks of these events.
The Swiss financial centres were formed by decisions taken over six centuries: royal privileges for fairs, the arrival of refugees, the founding of stock exchanges, the banking law of 1934 and the end of secrecy for foreign taxpayers. Many of today's rules still carry the marks of these events.
Reading these events in sequence shows how Swiss finance adapted to pressure from outside. Geneva, Basel and Zurich each developed their own strengths in trade, private banking, insurance and later securities. Wars, currency crises and changes in international cooperation repeatedly forced banks and legislators to adjust, and each adjustment left rules, institutions and habits that still shape how foreign clients are served today.
Many questions that foreign clients ask have historical answers. The documentation that banks expect, the tradition of private bankers with unlimited personal liability and the caution towards politically exposed persons all reflect earlier episodes. Understanding this background helps newcomers read the tone of a Swiss bank's questions and respond with the kind of information that builds confidence on both sides of the relationship.
The timeline is written for readers without prior knowledge of Swiss history. Each entry places a date in its economic and political setting and explains its later consequences, so that the entries can be read on their own or as a continuous account. Cross-references lead to the articles on banking, regulation and tax, where the present-day rules are explained in practical detail.
The entries in this series explain key moments in context: how Lyon overtook the Geneva fairs in 1462 and 1463, the career of the Geneva banker Jacques Necker as finance minister of France, and the work of the Bergier Commission and what followed from it.
The Bergier Commission: what it examined and what followed
The Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland – Second World War, chaired by the historian Jean-François Bergier, carried out the most… Read more Financial History · TimelineJacques Necker: a Geneva banker as finance minister of France
Jacques Necker, born in Geneva in 1732, rose from clerk in a Paris bank to director-general of the finances of… Read more Financial History · TimelineLyon against Geneva: Louis XI’s measures of 1462–1463 and the decline of the Geneva fairs
In 1462 and 1463 Louis XI combined trade bans, fines and generous privileges to draw the commerce of Geneva’s medieval… Read more