1945 - 1957

The 'Golden era’ of Swiss banking begins, with Switzerland becoming the world’s third most important banking center after New York and London

Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC)
Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS)

Switzerland and the world

1945

Union Bank moves its headquarters from Winterthur and Sankt Gallen to Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse 45.

Basler Handelsbank

Head office of Basler Handelsbank
Head office of Basler Handelsbank

Basler Handelsbank is absorbed by SBC, Eidgenössische Bank (Federal Bank) by Union Bank. Both banks had become insolvent after World War II.

Total assets of SBC at the end of 1945 are 1.8 billion CHF, while Union Bank assets amount to 1 billion CHF.

Hiroshima City

Hiroshima City

The first atomic bomb detonates at the White Sands Missile Range in the U.S. State of New Mexico on 16 July. In August of the same year, atomic bombs are dropped onto the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

World War II ends.

Zurich starts rise to position of economic hub of Switzerland.

Foundation of the UN

Foundation of the UN

The United Nations Organization (UN) is founded in San Francisco in October, with the ratification of the United Nations Charter.

Philippine independence.