Swiss Finance

Dr. Henri B. Meier is a cofounder of HBM BioVentures AG, HBM Partners AG, BioMedInvest AG, and BioMedCredit AG, which are among the global leaders in biotech venture capital firms. For the past twelve years, since his retirement from Roche Holdings, he has been active in helping and advising young entrepreneurs start new companies and foundations. Over the course of his distinguished career, he has held positions as an economist and financial analyst, as well as investment officer, at both International Finance Corporation and the World Bank in Washington, D.C.; a member of the Executive Committee of Handelsbank National Westminster (Zurich); and CFO, member of the Roche Group Executive Committee, and member of Roche's Board of Directors. Among Meier's many awards during this period were multiple recognitions as Switzerland's top CFO and recipient of the European CFO Excellence Award in 1999. He holds a master of economics and business administration degree and PhD from the St. Gallen School of Economics, Switzerland. Dr. John E. Marthinsen is Professor of Economics and International Business at Babson College, where he holds the Distinguished Chair in Swiss Economics of the Glavin Center for Global Entrepreneurial Leadership. He has extensive consulting experience, working for both domestic and international companies, as well as the U.S. government. Marthinsen has served on the United Nations Association's Economic Policy Council and lectured at the Universities of Bern and Basel in Switzerland and the University of Nurnberg, Germany. From 2000 to 2009, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of Givaudan SA, a Swiss-based flavors and fragrances company. Among his most recent books are Risk Takers: Uses and Abuses of Financial Derivatives, Second Edition and Managing in a Global Economy: Demystifying International Macroeconomics. Dr. Pascal A. Gantenbein is the Henri B. Meier Professor of Financial Management at the University of Basel's Center of Economic Sciences (WWZ). He also acts as a consultant in the fields of real estate portfolio management, asset management, and real estate institutions. Gantenbein has been a visiting professor with several academic institutions worldwide and was formerly assistant professor of business administration and finance at the Swiss Institute for Banking and Finance at the University of St. Gallen. He also received his master's degree and PhD from the University of St. Gallen.

Preface ix Introduction 1 1 Finanzplatz Schweiz 7 2 The Swiss Banking System 37 3 Swiss Banking Secrecy 97 4 Swiss Institutional Investors 151 5 Swiss National Bank and Monetary Policy 181 6 Swiss Francs in the Global Exchange Markets 209 7 Swiss Debt Markets 243 8 Swiss Equity Markets 275 9 Swiss DerivativeMarkets 311 10 Swiss Taxes on Investment and Financing 349 Conclusion and Outlook 365 About the Authors 373 Index 377