Alternative Bank Schweiz

Alternative Bank Schweiz (ABS)
Aktiengesellschaft
Industry Banking
Founded 1990
Headquarters Olten, Switzerland
Number of locations
 3
Area served
 Switzerland
Key people
 Martin Rohner, director
Products ethic and sustainable banking
Services Investments, loans, bank accounts
Revenue 1,462 million CHF (2014)[1]
Number of employees
 90 (2014)[1]
Slogan ethic and sustainable banking
Website www.abs.ch

Alternative Bank Schweiz, commonly shortened to ABS, is an sustainability-oriented bank based in Olten, Canton of Solothurn, in Switzerland. It is situated at the former location of the Walter Verlag.

History and orientation

The Alternative Bank Schweiz (ABS) is the everyday banking for those who want to know what is happening with their money and how it can make even good work declares the bank. It was founded in 1990 by several organisations, a union, various charities, among them Greenpeace and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and also initiated by the Erklärung von Bern (EvB) association. Since 1990 the ABS has evolved from the alternative operation with a few people to a hierarchically structured company with departments and supervisors. The bank had also to say goodbye to some ideals, so it could not support people that make no money, just because they have a ‹good ethological opinion›. As some years ago, some cooperatively organized enterprises got in bankruptcy after the founding, it was sobering for the bank's staff. The ABS survived this turmoil without saying goodbye to their core values. Regardless, the ABS shares in today's banking environment continuously gained value, so sustainability is expressed also in sustainable growth.[2]

Nevertheless, over the years the ABS threw some strict requirements over board. So they did not want to grant loans for single-family homes, but ceased in the late of 1990s that otherwise customers would be lost. In order to fulfil their founding goals, the ABS introduced a private real estate rating, resulting in favourable loans for social and ecological buildings.[2]

Investment strategy

Investing the money of their customers has shear most ABS ethical decisions: which stocks, which titles are just alright, what not? The economist Martin Rohner, before the director of the Max Havelaar Foundation (Switzerland), is the ABS'S managing director since 2012. ABS has "green and red lists" to the investment strategy, latter among others referring to companies dealing with weapons, with the nuclear industry, or earn money with gene technology, as well as the porn industry in general. For example, corporations that produce environmentally friendly cars, or a pharmaceutical company, which handled with genetic engineering but provides at the same time affordable medicines for the poor people – therefore are used large lists with eligibility criteria, exclusion criteria, and positive criteria. However, the ABS does not publish its rating list, but for customers, however, they are ccessible. Today, after the ABS served as model since the 1990s, almost all banks offer so-called sustainable, ethical funds. Nevertheless, the ABS still claims to invest in fonds in the framework of the "triple-bottom-line ‹People-planet-profit›», which means the economy means to the people, and at the end it must not earn high profits: banks should meet the needs of the people, without thereby to destroy the world.[2]

Weissgeldstrategie

The ABS also clearly differentiate at the time of its founding by conventional Swiss banks, by is its strategy, as today in general called "Weissgeldstrategie", literally meaning white money strategy:[3] All customers from Switzerland and from abroad must declare, that the money they bring to the ABS, is tax paid. For five years, the Alternative Bank Schweiz also reports interest income from non-Swiss assets unsolicited to the tax authorities of the home countries of the foreign clientele. Customers must give their consent, but if they do not comply, they cannot open an account at the ABS. In principle, this corresponds to the automatic exchange of information require more and more countries of the Switzerland to combat tax evasion.[2]

Economy and organization

The balance sheet total grew to 2012 by 10% to 1,120 million Swiss Francs. The profit rose by 55% to nearly 6 million Swiss Francs in 2012. 90 employees take care of around 31,835 customers as of 2014. Thus, the ABS is in the national comparison even a small bank, so the Raiffeisen bank has a total assets of 15,500 million francs, 3.5 million customers and about 8,000 employees.[2] Indeed, 48% of the ABS management positions are staffed with women, which represents an extremely high rate in Switzerland.[1]

The ABS is organized as an Aktiengesellschaft according to Swiss law. Originally, the founders planed to organize the bank as a cooperative, but the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (FINMA) did not allow to grant any new cooperative bank. In fact this legal disadvantage makes it thus easier for themail ABS to find new shareholders because. share holder value may easier to be sold to new owners as the planed co-operative shares. therefore, the ABS may also award a modest dividend.[2]

Literature

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Zahlen" (in German). Alternative Bank Schweiz (ABS). Retrieved 2014-12-14.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Susan Boos and Ursula Häne (photos) (2012-04-26). "Gute Finanzinstitute: Die Banken, die auch anders können." (in German). Die Wochenzeitung WOZ 17/2012. Retrieved 2014-12-14.
  3. ↑ "Wie ernsthaft verfolgen Banken die Weissgeldstrategie?" (in German). Swiss television and radio SRF. 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2014-12-14.