Swiss banking giant returns to the fold to meet challenges

Raiffeisen left the SBA in protest at the lobby group's excessive focus on international banks. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Raiffeisen Switzerland will return to the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) at the end of August.

Thomas Müller, chair of Switzerland’s largest domestic-focused retail banking group, is nominated to take over the vice-presidency of the association. Raiffeisen left the umbrella organisation of Swiss banks more than two years’ ago.

Raiffeisen has now decided to rejoin the association at the end of August, Raiffeisen and the SBA announced on Tuesday. They want to tackle the upcoming challenges of the financial centre “as a united force” and actively help to shape the future of the financial centre.

Müller will be proposed for election to the board of directors at the association’s general assembly on September 14 and will take over the vice-presidency if elected.

Raiffeisen wants to “appropriately represent” the interests of its Swiss private and small business customers, the bank said. The Swiss financial centre aims to be united as it tackles future challenges, such as “requirements for systemically important banks”, “sustainable finance” or “combating cyber risks”.

The Raiffeisen Group and the SBA agree that a stable and robust financial system must be made up of banks with different business models and interests. Raiffeisen differentiates itself in the Swiss banking industry with its cooperative model. The SBA, meanwhile, welcomed the return of the banking group.

In November 2020, the withdrawal of the Raiffeisen Group from the SBA signified the smouldering dissatisfaction of domestic-focused banks that had built up for years. At that time, the banking group justified its exit by citing radical changes in the industry and differing interests of the various players in the Swiss financial centre.

A particular complaint was the excessive weighting of the international-oriented big banks and private banks within the SBA. Big banks and private banks are more interested in market access abroad and are “more willing to make sacrifices” than domestic banks, then Raiffeisen chair Guy Lachappelle told AWP at the time.

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