Cédric Wermuth, co-president of the Social Democratic Party (SP) of Switzerland, has called for a Swiss federal bank after the cantonal bank model. Cantonal Banks were created some 200 years ago, with the aim of providing credit to the community (meanwhile, they have degenerated, like all commercial banks).
Referring to Postfinance, a federal bank, belonging to the state-owned national postal service, he said, “Postfinance should be expanded into an SME (small to medium enterprise) bank with a public state guarantee,” speaking to CH Media in an interview on March 31. He said that was done 200 years ago, when cantonal banks were founded, because there had been a lack of credit. “Now we have a lack of security,” Wermuth was quoted as saying in the March 31 issues of CH Media newspapers. A Swiss federal cantonal bank would make the country’s economy less dependent on the big bank, UBS.
Federal supervisory agency Finma should watch that the new bank not be involved in speculation. Speculative products involving proprietary trading and short selling would be eliminated. “You have to close the casino,” he insisted.
CH Media report: “As part of his proposal Wermuth has in mind a bank separation system. This is intended to prevent risks when speculative products are separated.”
