Swiss banks survived the credit crunch but they won't survive WikiLeaks

Swiss banks rode out the credit crunch – but they won't be able to survive the age of WikiLeaks says Matthew Lynn. Here's why.

There are a few things we think we know for sure about Switzerland. It makes nice chocolate and reliable watches. It's expensive and a little on the dull side. And it has the most formidable banking industry in the world.

For a hundred years or more, Switzerland and banking have been just about synonymous. Countless thrillers feature a scene where a shady deal gets done at some discreet Zurich or Geneva office, where the secrecy of the transaction can be considered absolute. If London has a serious rival in Europe as a finance centre, it's Switzerland rather than Frankfurt or Paris. But now the Swiss finance sector is looking challenged in a way that it hasn't been for a generation or more.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.