Of all the places in the world, this was supposed to be the safest to stash your wealth during times of calamity, war and financial panic. But here in the heart of Zurich's financial district, anxious Swiss investors have been lining up to watch the stock tickers in front of the headquarters of UBS, a financial behemoth that has written off a stunning $43 billion in loser investments since 2007, more than any other bank in Europe. "The idea that this could happen in Switzerland is unbelievable," said Klaus Stoeckli, 55, a food-products salesman who has withdrawn about $90,000 in investments from UBS, worried that its storied vaults might not be able to protect his money from the global credit crisis... While UBS is the largest bank in Switzerland, it's not the only giant affected by the credit crisis whose sheer size looms over the Swiss economy. One block away on the Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich's main street for high finance and luxury shopping, is the headquarters of Credit Suisse, with $1.1 trillion in assets. Though Credit Suisse has also suffered in the past year, it has not been hit as hard as UBS, its longtime rival... Gabrielle Radler, a retired schoolteacher from Zurich, said she withdrew most of her deposits from UBS, saying that the bank has become too risky and too large. "If things really collapsed, I don't think Switzerland could do anything," she said. "The population is too small, and the bank is just too big."
But here in the heart of Zurich's financial district, anxious Swiss investors have been lining up to watch the stock tickers in front of the headquarters of UBS, a financial behemoth that has written off a stunning $43 billion in loser investments since 2007, more than any other bank in Europe.
"The idea that this could happen in Switzerland is unbelievable," said Klaus Stoeckli, 55, a food-products salesman who has withdrawn about $90,000 in investments from UBS, worried that its storied vaults might not be able to protect his money from the global credit crisis...
While UBS is the largest bank in Switzerland, it's not the only giant affected by the credit crisis whose sheer size looms over the Swiss economy. One block away on the Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich's main street for high finance and luxury shopping, is the headquarters of Credit Suisse, with $1.1 trillion in assets. Though Credit Suisse has also suffered in the past year, it has not been hit as hard as UBS, its longtime rival...
Gabrielle Radler, a retired schoolteacher from Zurich, said she withdrew most of her deposits from UBS, saying that the bank has become too risky and too large. "If things really collapsed, I don't think Switzerland could do anything," she said. "The population is too small, and the bank is just too big."
(says the French guy) In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
