Swiss banks look to job cuts

Zurich - Swiss banks look set for new job cuts this year, despite ever-rosier figures, amid rising regulatory pressure and a US clampdown on tax-dodgers, say consultants EY.

In a study on the 2014 outlook for the country's banking sector, EY underlined the tough environment for what is a cornerstone of the Swiss economy.

Patrick Schwaller, a managing partner at EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young, said: "Swiss banks have dealt with the challenges of increasingly difficult conditions such as low interest rates, falling transaction volumes and regulatory pressure.

Operating profits

"They have no choice but to adapt their business models and processes on an ongoing basis," he said in a statement.

Three-quarters of banks say that they expect operating profits to improve over the course of the year, EY said.

The number of planned redundancies within the next 12 months could nearly double to 20%.

EY polled 120 banks in December, except for giants UBS and Credit Suisse.

Hit by a US crackdown on tax cheats, EY said that the private banking sector, which caters for the wealthiest clients, was facing the greatest pressure.

Consolidation

"The increasingly unfavourable conditions are currently leading many banks to reassess their business models," said Bruno Patusi, head of wealth and asset management at EY Switzerland.

"The competitive pressure and the tax agreement concluded with the US will tend to accelerate the consolidation," he said.

The crisis has driven the battle against tax-dodging to the top of government agendas, forcing Swiss banks to defend the country's long-held tradition of banking secrecy.

The United States has been at the forefront of the fight and in August Switzerland struck a deal with Washington over the thorny issue of undeclared money banked by American citizens.

Exchange

A survey showed 73% of banks believe that the US-driven solution is damaging the sector.

Rather than fearing losses, banks are mainly worried by the cost of employing expensive lawyers to comb through accounts and pass on mounds of data to US tax authorities.

Three-quarters of the banks said that they also expected the automatic exchange of customer information to become the global standard, meaning the final death knell for banking secrecy.