The Swiss government said it would hold an urgent review of the country’s bank deposit guarantee scheme to align savers’ protection closer with recently revised European levels.

Switzerland offers a relatively modest guarantee of SFr30,000 ($26,473) per customer, compared with the €50,000 ($67,000) or more introduced in many neighbouring countries in recent weeks. Although there has been little sign of Swiss account holders shifting assets to banks abroad – easy in a small country – it appears that clients have moved money from UBS, in particular, to publicly owned or controlled cantonal banks, which often enjoy state guarantees.