The Swiss banking industry finds itself at a crossroads. The upheaval in the global banking industry has affected the two large Swiss banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, disproportionately and recent reports that UBS is being investigated for allegedly aiding US citizens to evade taxes have revived US criticism of Swiss banking secrecy practices.

What a difference a year can make. When in July 2007 we asked the chief executives of all Swiss banks about the future of the Swiss financial marketplace, two-thirds of them indicated they were ”optimistic” or even ”very optimistic”. Twelve months later, the Swiss financial market place seems under siege.