Thomas Gottstein

Banking in Switzerland dates to the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and over the centuries has grown into a complex and regulated international industry. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland and the country has been one of the largest offshore financial centers and tax havens in the world since the mid-20th century, with a long history of banking secrecy and client confidentiality reaching back to the early 1700s. Starting as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934 with the passage of a landmark federal law, the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks. These laws were used to protect assets of persons being persecuted by Nazi authorities but have also been used by people and institutions seeking to illegally evade taxes, hide assets, or to commit other financial crime.

Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland as a standalone firm but now a subsidiary of UBS. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse will be fully integrated into UBS but while the integration is not complete both banks are operating separately. Headquartered in Zürich, as a standalone firm it maintained offices in all major financial centers around the world and provided services in investment banking, private banking, asset management, and shared services. It was known for strict bank–client confidentiality and banking secrecy. The Financial Stability Board considered it to be a global systemically important bank. Credit Suisse was also a primary dealer and Forex counterparty of the Federal Reserve in the United States.

Prudential plc is a British-domiciled multinational insurance company headquartered in London and Hong Kong. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working people.

The First Boston Corporation was a New York–based bulge bracket investment bank, founded in 1932 and acquired by Credit Suisse in 1988. After the acquisition, it operated as an independent investment bank known as CS First Boston until 2006, when the company was fully integrated into Credit Suisse. In 2022, Credit Suisse revived the "First Boston" brand as part of an effort to spin out the business.

Tidjane Thiam is an Ivorian and French businessman, and the executive chairman of Freedom Acquisition Corp. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Swiss bank Credit Suisse from March 2015 to February 2020. He was the chief financial officer of British banking group Prudential from 2007 to 2009, and then its CEO until 2015. In 2019, Thiam became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

White, Weld & Co. is a privately held global financial services firm engaged in asset management, investment advisory, investment banking and other capital market activities. Relaunched in 2012, the business is headquartered in Chicago. Previously, White, Weld & Co. was a Boston-based investment bank, historically managed by Boston Brahmins until its sale to Merrill Lynch in 1978. The Weld family name can be traced back to the founding of Massachusetts in the 1630s.

The Africa Progress Panel (APP) was a Swiss-based foundation that was aimed at changing the policy through analysis, advocacy and diplomacy.

Hottinger Group is an international wealth management business headquartered in London providing family office, Investment banking and other associated financial services. Hottinger is known as one of the first private banks, created on 1 August 1786 by the Hottinguer family.

Brady William Dougan is an American banker and CEO of Exos. From 2007 to 2015, he was the chief executive officer of Credit Suisse. Before this, Dougan was CEO of Investment Banking and acting CEO of Credit Suisse Americas. On 10 March 2015, it was announced that Tidjane Thiam, the CEO of Prudential, would replace Dougan as the next CEO of Credit Suisse in June 2015.

Oswald Jürgen Grübel is a German banker who was the group chief executive officer of Swiss bank UBS AG from 26 February 2009 until his sudden resignation on the 24 September 2011 in the wake of the 2011 UBS rogue trader scandal. Previously, he has been head of Credit Suisse between 2003 and 2007.

Ulrich Körner is a German-Swiss businessman. In March 2021, he was named CEO Asset Management of Credit Suisse until July 2022, when he was appointed CEO of Credit Suisse AG.

UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered simultaneously in Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swiss banking institution and the largest private bank in the world. UBS investment bankers and private bankers are known for their strict bank–client confidentiality and culture of banking secrecy. Because of the bank's large positions in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific markets, the Financial Stability Board considers it a global systemically important bank.

Jürg Zeltner was a Swiss corporate executive. He last served as Group CEO and member of the Board of Directors at KBL European Private Bankers. He was earlier the President of UBS Wealth Management from November 2014 to December 2017. He stepped down from the Group Executive Board at the end of 2017, and retired from the firm as of 2018. He had served as a member of the UBS Group Executive Board since February 2009. From February 2009 to January 2012 he was co-CEO of Wealth Management and Swiss Bank. In February 2016, Zeltner ranked first among the best global private banking CEOs, according to a 2016 Euromoney private banking survey.

Sergio Pietro Ermotti is a Swiss manager and investment banker. In April 2021, Ermotti was elected chairman of Swiss Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, succeeding Walter Kielholz. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of UBS Group AG from November 2011 to October 2020 and regained that position in 2023. He is also a board member of the Institute of International Finance.

Urs Rohner is a Swiss lawyer, businessman and banker. He is the former CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media and former chairman of Swiss bank Credit Suisse. After his 10 year tenure the share price lost 75% of its value leaving the bank engulfed in various scandals and subsequently apologizing for his poor performance at the last shareholder meeting. He is considered one of the worst chairmen in Swiss banking.

Rainer Emil Gut was a Swiss bank manager.

On 19 March 2023, Swiss bank UBS Group AG agreed to buy Credit Suisse for CHF 3 billion in an all-stock deal brokered by the government of Switzerland and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. The Swiss National Bank supported the deal by providing more than CHF 100 billion in liquidity to UBS following its takeover of Credit Suisse's operations, while the Swiss government provided a guarantee to UBS to cover losses of up to CHF 9 billion over the short term. Additionally, CHF 16 billion of Additional Tier 1 bonds were written down to zero.