Let’s Talk: What next after the Credit Suisse debacle?

The emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS has redrawn the Swiss banking map and raised doubts about the reliability of the financial centre. The Let’s Talk webcast debate examines the implications for Switzerland.

Marc Chesney, professor of mathematical science at the University of Zurich, has for years warned of toxic conditions within the banking system. He argues that a culture of high-stakes risk has spun out of control thanks to incentives that reward short-term profit with outsized bonuses. When things go wrong, bank executives walk away with their millions without having to face the music.

Economist and journalist Myret Zaki warns that the shadow banking system has inflated the dangers by injecting trillions of dollars without adequate supervisory oversight. The increasing volume and complexity of trading has made banking riskier, not safer, since the 2008 financial crisis.

Let’s Talk also hears from economic historian Tobias Straumann, who argues that the warnings of history have been ignored. Swiss banking is exposed to future shocks with the creation of an enlarged UBS mega-bank, he warns.

SWI swissinfo.ch financial journalist Matthew Allen asks whether bankers have lost touch with the social benefits of finance to feather their own nests at the expense of society.

Has banking lost its way? Can it bounce back from the latest shock? Will taxpayers again be told to insure the excesses of greed? Can Switzerland recover its global reputation for conservative, reliable banking?