Although a few columnists (understandably angry with Switzerland's long-standing policy of servicing despots and tax evaders) have tried to write off the country totally (see e.g. a Bloomberg...
Although a few columnists (understandably angry with Switzerland's long-standing policy of servicing despots and tax evaders) have tried to write off the country totally (see e.g. a Bloomberg Opinion column claiming "Switzerland Is Left With Watches and Chocolate, Not Cash") Swiss banks continue to remain very relevant, but Swiss banks are now helping people to move assets offshore to non-Swiss jursdictions where there is more banking secrecy (think Cayman Islands, BVI, etc). This works very well for them because they can still collect their management fee and it draws less heat for the Swiss government. The Swiss economy in general does a lot more manufacturing of sophisticated products (e.g. optical equipment, factory machinery, etc) than it does banking or watches and chocolate.
Although a few columnists (understandably angry with Switzerland's long-standing policy of servicing despots and tax evaders) have tried to write off the country totally (see e.g. a Bloomberg Opinion column claiming "Switzerland Is Left With Watches and Chocolate, Not Cash") Swiss banks continue to remain very relevant, but Swiss banks are now helping people to move assets offshore to non-Swiss jursdictions where there is more banking secrecy (think Cayman Islands, BVI, etc). This works very well for them because they can still collect their management fee and it draws less heat for the Swiss government. The Swiss economy in general does a lot more manufacturing of sophisticated products (e.g. optical equipment, factory machinery, etc) than it does banking or watches and chocolate.