The cantonal banks (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Kantonalbank'',

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''banque cantonale'',

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''banca cantonale'') are 24

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

government-owned commercial banks. Most of them were founded between 1834 and 1916, although the Banque cantonale du Jura was founded in 1979, as the canton of Jura was not formed until 1978, by its separation from the Canton of Berne. 21 are provided by the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

in which they are based, with a guarantee for the assets held there.

Description

Traditionally, cantonal banks are especially strong in savings and mortgage products. Currently they are in the process of being partially privatized. The cantonal banks are organised and regulated by the Association of Swiss Cantonal Banks, with its office in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. As a group, the cantonal banks account for about 30% of the banking sector in Switzerland, with a network of over 800 branches and 16 000 employees in Switzerland. In 2021 the consolidated total assets of all cantonal banks were around 750 bln CHF, which is comparable with those of the "Big Banks":

UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...

and

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...

.Cantonal Banks
/ref> Some cantonal banks offer 100% deposit insurance to their clients, whereas Swiss-domiciled banks are insured for a maximum of 100,000 CHF via the esisuisse deposit insurance scheme.Kraus, Daniel, et al. ''Blockchains, Smart Contracts, Decentralised Autonomous Organisations and the Law''. Cheltenham, Uk ; Northampton, Ma, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019, p. 206. There are 24 cantonal banks, one in each canton of the country, except for the cantons of

Appenzell Ausserrhoden Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden ( ; ; ; ), in English sometimes Appenzell Outer Rhodes, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of twenty municipalities. The seat of the gove ...

, which sold its bank to banking rival

, and

Solothurn Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains. The town is ...

, which privatized its bank in 1995 after a scandal. Each bank uses a distinctive motif as the logo, with a cantonal colour on white used as the colours of the bank, e.g. light blue for Zürcher Kantonalbank (Zurich Cantonal Bank). Despite appearances, cantonal banks are not small private banks: in fact two of them, the Zürcher Kantonalbank and the

Banque cantonale vaudoise The Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV) is the cantonal bank of the Swiss Canton of Vaud. Headquartered in Lausanne, it is Vaud's biggest bank by balance sheet. BCV is a universal bank providing retail banking, corporate banking, wealth management, a ...

, are the second and third biggest banks in Switzerland (after

List of cantonal banks

Notes and references

External links

Website of the Association of Swiss Cantonal Banks, which has information on all the cantonal banks.
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