Der oberste Banker der Schweiz will wieder schweigen

Marcel Rohner, Swiss banking's top leader, is considering silence again. The passionate liberal had enough after five turbulent years leading the Swiss Banking Association (SBVg). He recalled the effort required to convince himself to take on the presidency. Rohner insisted he is not exaggerating; the silence had indeed lasted for years.

He admitted that the liberal economist and banker, who called himself harmonious but ready for heated debates, including about the role of journalism, meant well. NZZ.ch requires JavaScript for essential functions, which his browser or ad blocker currently blocks. Rohner, trained as an economist and econometrician at the University of Zurich, worked at the Swiss Banking Association and Warburg Dillon Read's investment bank from 1993 to 1998, then moved to UBS, where he rapidly climbed the career ladder.

However, he took the CEO position unexpectedly in 2007 during UBS's troubled times and was eventually replaced by Oswald Grübel in 2009. Rohner felt like a projection screen and didn't want to be seen publicly, he remembered. But the chance to shape economic policies of banks was too strong for him. He even saw it as a trust endorsement.

His personal assessment after five years as president, giving up the presidency to Giorgio Pradelli, CEO of private bank EFG, on banking day, was that the association is a voluntary organization of competitors that needs to find common interests. Contrary to media claims, it has been functioning well. Rohner sees it as a significant step to have convinced Raiffeisen banks to return in 2023, which increased awareness of shared goals.

Under his leadership, Roman Studer, formerly of UBS, was appointed CEO in 2023. The SBVg is now a remarkable think tank where specialists from member banks collaborate on foundational work. Rohner highlighted his involvement in designing a Swiss book currency token to move bank money creation onto the blockchain, preserving the two-tier financial system.

The SBVg's digital currency token is still in development. Rohner believes the current system is relatively efficient and cost-effective, but it has a lifespan. He wants to be ready for the technology change. Cybersecurity was another major challenge; he noted that the Swiss Financial Sector Cyber Security Center he founded in 2022 has helped exchange institutional and operational concerns with banks and authorities.

Despite the Credit Suisse crisis overshadowing his tenure, Rohner viewed it as a turning point that they had anticipated and were saddened by. The association had already warned of the need for learning and drawing conclusions. However, the pendulum swings a bit too far in regulation, and compromises need to be made. Rohner personally believes that the only way to protect taxpayers is through orderly market exit, which doesn't necessarily require only equity.

He urged not only to deal with the past but also to look forward. Rohner launched a motion-controlled national imagery campaign in autumn 2025 titled "In Motion" to promote the SBVg.