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Zurich

Zurich is the largest Swiss financial centre by balance-sheet total: UBS, the cantonal and private banks, the exchange, the asset management industry and the insurance groups. It is also the seat of the supervisory authority's principal counterparties and of the register of attorneys in which the publisher of this portal is entered.

The largest financial centre

Zurich is the largest financial centre in Switzerland and the place where most of the country's financial decisions are taken. The head offices of UBS, of the major insurers and reinsurers and of a large part of the private banks and asset managers are in the city, the SIX Swiss Exchange operates the Swiss stock exchange from Zurich, and the Swiss National Bank conducts its monetary policy from here. For a company from Asia, the Middle East or Africa this concentration has a practical meaning, because the banks, auditors, lawyers, tax advisers and recruiters it will need are within walking distance of each other, and Zurich Airport connects the city directly with the major hubs in Asia and the Gulf.

Staff, language and courts

The canton offers the deepest pool of qualified staff in the country, drawn from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and an international workforce, and it is the natural location for a regional headquarters, a group treasury, a listing or a business that depends on proximity to banks and investors. The authorities, the commercial register and the courts work in German, while English is widely used in business. Company formations are notarised by the cantonal notary offices, which are public authorities in Zurich, and the Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich, whose benches include judges with business experience, decides commercial disputes at first instance. For international disputes, arbitration under the Swiss Rules with its seat in Zurich is a common choice.

Costs and the combination with Zug

The price of this depth is a higher tax burden and higher costs than in Zug or Lugano. The effective profit tax in the city of Zurich is just under 20 per cent, salaries and rents are among the highest in Europe, and the canton abolished lump-sum taxation for wealthy foreign residents in 2009. Many groups therefore combine the two neighbouring cantons, with their management, staff and banking relationships in Zurich and holding or licence companies in Zug, half an hour away. The articles below explain the federal law that applies in Zurich as in the other financial centres, from company formation and bank accounts to tax, anti-money laundering, sanctions and dispute resolution.

Across the Swiss financial centres