What is a Raiffeisen bank?

What is a Raiffeisen bank?

The approximately 340 independent Raiffeisen banks are united in solidarity Raiffeisen Switzerland, under which they adhere to each other. Raiffeisen Switzerland coordinates the activities of the group, createsconditions for the local Raiffeisen banks (eg IT, infrastructure, refinancing) and advises and supports them in all matters. The area of ​​activity of cooperative banks traditionally lies in the local retail banking and lending to localsmall and medium enterprises. Raiffeisen Switzerland is the third largest banking group in Switzerland.

What you need to know about offshore banking

These are sites which are characterized by low taxes, a high degree of confidentiality and minimal financial market supervision and regulation (see also tax haven). Based banks and other financial institutions handle a large part of their business abroad and the transactions and investment totals are compared to other business processes extremely large.
Many offshore financial centers are located on small islands. Most of these are former British colonies or dependencies to know where is the original name (translated as beyond the coastal region, ie lying in international waters). However, offshore today in this context is not geographically, but rather to understand legal terms: the financial markets are located outside the standards of justice.

Proponents of offshore financial centers to emphasize their important role in the international monetary system in which they allow their liberal laws, the development of special instruments such as risk management. They also may be important as regulators, which prevented that governments could raise taxes too much.
Be criticized offshore financial centers, especially as tax havens that favor in combination with their rigid bank secrecy, tax evasion in other countries.

 

Attention: Postfinance is not an actual bank

Attention: Postfinance is not an actual bank

In contrast to the German postal bank PostFinance is not a bank but only one arm of Swiss Post. The lack of abanking license in the area of ​​activity of PostFinance limited to its traditional main area, the national andinternational payments and related services, and products or on the distribution of individual banks created in cooperation with financial services. Nevertheless, PostFinance positioned as number five among the retailfinancial institutions.

All internal news on the cantonal banks you find here:

http://www.kantonalbank.ch/d/index.php

26 cantons, but why only 24 cantonal banks

Originally, each canton or half canton had its own Kantonalbank. Due to the difficult economic environment in the early 90s and self-inflicted by mismanagement in the mid 90s are gone, the cantonal banks of Solothurn and Appenzell Outer Rhodes.
The Solothurn cantonal bank was a financial debacle for the first January 1995 to the former Swiss BankCorporation (SBC) and taken out under the new name of Solothurn SoBa bank as a subsidiary. With the mergerof the former Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) with the former Bank of Switzerland (UBS) UBS made to theCompetition Commission, the support, the Solothurn SoBa bank to sell the latest spring 2003. Already in theautumn of 2000 fulfilled this requirement, UBS and the former sold to Basler Kantonalbank Solothurninsurance, which means that the bank now known as Baloise Bank SoBa.
The Cantonal Bank of Appenzell-Ausserrhoden was disbanded after years of unsuccessful attempts atrehabilitation and the end of 1996 by the then Bank of Switzerland (UBS) acquired and fully integrated into the banking group.

What is a Kantonalbank (Cantonal bank) ???

Cantonal banks are public companies or banks organized in Switzerland, where the owners - either totally orpartially as majority carriers - the respective canton. The story begins in the 19th of the Cantonal Century. The individual cantonal banks are independent and operate primarily in the utility room of their home canton.Together they account for around 30% of the domestic banking business in Switzerland. The companies employ around 19,000 employees. The Federal Constitution gives the federal government the authority toestablish regulations on banks. The legislator is obliged to wear the special role and position of the cantonal banks. What distinguishes a Kantonalbank as such and which it is subject to special rules, is set to laws andordinances. The Federal Law on Banks and Savings Banks are two essential characteristics:
The legal basis of a cantonal bank must be held in cantonal law.
The participation of the Canton must lie in more than one third of capital and votes.
Cantonal banks differ in their legal and organizational design, its operation or size of their business policyfocuses partly strong. Because of the legal and organizational form, the ownership or sponsorship, and the Powers and scope of business of each of the respective canton decides Kantonalbank as their owners because of its specific objectives. Of the 24 cantonal banks 21 have the full government guarantee.

Bank Julius Baer & Co - A large private bank in Switzerland

The Bank Julius Baer & Co. AG belongs to the Swiss banking group Julius Baer Group Ltd., a private bank inZurich. The company had with a managed client assets of approximately 405 billion Swiss francs by the end of 2007 behind Pictet & Cie's second largest dedicated wealth manager in Switzerland.
As a private bank, its asset management offering is aimed primarily at affluent customers. It offers a range of investment vehicles and advisory services. With headquarters in Zurich operates the bank branch in Ascona, Basel, Bern, Brig, Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Grand Cayman, Guernsey, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Kreuzlingen, Lausanne, Lugano, London, Luxembourg, Lucerne, Milan, Munich , Singapore, St. Moritz, Stuttgart, Vienna andtrain.
The company managed the end of 2010 assets worth around 267 billion Swiss francs, in fiscal year 2010, theJulius Baer Holding a profit of 352 million francs.