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Full-time staffing levels in Switzerland fell 1 percent last
year to 103,041, the Swiss Bankers Association said in its
annual industry review.
Job numbers last year were hit by several foreign banks pulling
out of Switzerland, the SBA said, with the number of banks in
Switzerland decreasing in 2015 to 266 from 275.
However, an SBA survey also found its banks had already recorded
3,454 fewer employees in the first half of 2016, equivalent to
4.1 percent of the workforce, although "the outlook for the
employment trend for the rest of the year is stable," the SBA
said in a statement.
Many Swiss private banks, which for years benefited from clients
bringing money to Switzerland to take advantage of the country's
banking privacy rules, are struggling following a clampdown by
the United States and other countries on tax evasion and
increasing regulatory costs.
At an industry level, banks are under pressure to cut costs amid
record-low interest rates, penalties for hoarding cash with
central banks, tough financial markets and conservative trading.
Deals involving foreign banks last year included Royal Bank of
Canada's sale of its Swiss private bank to Syz & Co and Union
Bancaire Privee's acquisition of Switzerland-based Coutts
International from Royal Bank of Scotland.
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
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