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Private company

Raiffeisen Switzerland

Logo: Raiffeisen Schweiz, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Cooperative of Swiss banks

Raiffeisen Switzerland is a cooperative of cooperatives – the union of all independent Swiss Raiffeisen banks. It bears responsibility for the business policy and strategy within the Raiffeisen Group. The 219 independent Raiffeisen banks of Switzerland are organised as cooperatives.2 It is headquartered in St. Gallen.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1899Founded1

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Raiffeisen Schweiz in St. Gallen Ansicht Gartenstrasse
Photo: JoachimKohler-HB, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Raiffeisen Switzerland is a cooperative of cooperatives – the union of all independent Swiss Raiffeisen banks. It bears responsibility for the business policy and strategy within the Raiffeisen Group. The 219 independent Raiffeisen banks of Switzerland are organised as cooperatives. With 896 branch offices in total, they make up the densest branch network of any Swiss bank. After the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS, the Raiffeisen Group has become the second-largest banking group in Switzerland with client assets under management of 246.6 billion francs. Since June 2014, Raiffeisen has been classified as one of Switzerland's systemically important banks and must therefore meet special requirements in terms of capital. Raiffeisen Switzerland has 3.65 million clients in Switzerland, of whom approximately 1.9 million are cooperative members and thus co-owners of their regional Raiffeisen banks.2

Corporate structure

Raiffeisen Switzerland sits at the top of its group. 2 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Raiffeisen Switzerland reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.1

The story

The first cooperative banks were founded in Germany during the 1840s until the 1870s, upon the ideas and the initiative of Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch and Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, where farmers founded their own credit banks to finance seeds, machinery and wares. The idea of cooperative banks caught on in Europe, particularly in rural areas. The first Raiffeisen bank in Switzerland was founded on the initiative of parish priest Johann Traber in 1899, located in Bichelsee. In 1902, ten institutions founded the Swiss Raiffeisen union. From 1912 onwards, the union ran a collective office in St. Gallen, and this was expanded over the following 40 years by its director Josef Stadelmann. In 2018, Raiffeisen sold its private banking subsidiary, Notenstein La Roche, for around CHF 700 million to Vontobel.

Investigations

Proceedings by Finma

In 2017, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) launched enforcement proceedings against the banking group in relation to corporate governance issues, and against the former chairman of the executive board, Pierin Vincenz, for his handling of conflicts of interest while in office. Due to Vincenz's resignation as chairman of Helvetia Insurance and his pledge that he would no longer seek any positions of responsibility with banks or insurance companies, FINMA terminated the proceedings against Vincenz, while those against Raiffeisen Switzerland remained ongoing. After an eight-month investigation, FINMA concluded its enforcement proceedings against Raiffeisen in June 2018.

Embezzlement trial

In April 2022, Pierin Vincenz and Beat Stocker, chairman of Aduno – a credit card company owned by several Swiss banks, including Raiffeisen – were sentenced to 3+3⁄4 and 4 years of prison, and conditional fines of 280 times 3000 francs, and 160 times 3000 francs, respectively. According to the court, both Vincenz and Stocker caused financial damage to their companies with hidden personal investments in several firms, and later selling them to Raiffeisen and Aduno. Vincenz was also sentenced for charging Raiffeisen several private expenses, including visits at strip clubs, Tinder dates, and refurbishing a demolished hotel room.

From Wikipedia’s article on Raiffeisen (Switzerland), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Also owns

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. 2012Acquired Notenstein Privatbank1

Timeline

  1. 2012Acquisition Acquired Notenstein Privatbank1
  2. 1899Founded Founded in Bichelsee-Balterswil1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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