Schweizerischer Bankverein

(also Swiss Bank Corporation), a major Swiss commercial bank. Established in 1872 as the Basler Bankverein, the bank took its present name in 1897 after absorbing several other banks.

The Schweizerischer Bankverein has gained a reputation in international financial circles for its efficient organization and the wide range of transactions it carries out in secrecy, in accordance with the Swiss Banking Law of 1934. Because of their secret operations and their interest in precious metals, the Schweizerischer Bankverein and other Swiss banks have been called the gnomes of Zürich.

The Schweizerischer Bankverein, whose headquarters are in Basel and Zürich, has 156 branches and nine subsidiaries in Switzerland and seven branches, 13 companies, and 21 offices in foreign countries; the London branch was opened in 1898, and the New York branch in 1939. The bank works closely with multinational banks. As of June 1977 it had total assets of 53.8 billion Swiss francs; current accounts and deposits of other banks totaled 16.8 billion francs, and those of other clients, 25.5 billion francs, loans and discounted bills of 21.1 billion francs, and accounts in other banks totaling 24.1 billion francs.