Bank Withdrawal Limits and Exit Fees Under Consideration by Financial Authorities in Switzerland, According to Contentious New Report

The Swiss National Bank and the Swiss Finance Ministry are considering new measures that would make it more difficult for wealthy people to move money out of their bank, according to an explosive and contentious new report.

The discussions are focused on finding new measures that could prevent bank runs after the collapse of Credit Suisse earlier this year, reports Reuters.

Sources “familiar with the matter” say the group is exploring potential limits and fees on bank withdrawals for wealthy clients.

“Among the measures being discussed is the option to stagger a greater portion of withdrawals over longer periods of time, one of the sources said.

Imposing fees on exits is also an alternative being discussed, two of the sources said.”

The group is also debating whether to offer higher interest rates to customers who lock up their savings for the long run.

The Finance Ministry initially told Reuters that the discussions are part of a broad inquiry on the country’s financial regulatory framework, and a report will be released next year.

And after the news article was released, the Ministry quickly responded, with Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter telling Bloomberg that staggered withdrawals are not on the table.

The failure of Credit Suisse happened back in March, right after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the US.

A loss of confidence in the scandal-ridden bank, which was the second-largest Swiss bank at the time, triggered the sudden collapse.

The Swiss National Bank initially injected $185 billion in emergency liquidity into the bank before it was sold to UBS for just $3.3 billion.

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