Swiss bankers have taken a beating in recent years: thousands of finance jobs have been lost and countless banks have gone under or been forced to sell. A new Zurich venture promises a return to the golden age of banking, finews.ch has learned.

The last ten years have not been good ones for Swiss banking: Switzerland's iron-clad banking secrecy rules have been all but abandoned.

Several private banks have been forced to liquidate following criminal investigations, others have been pushed into fire sales.

Those left standing have been forced into the bitter reality of competing in a market without the key competitive advantage of abetting tax cheats.

Finter's Demise

The political shift is tangible in cities like Zurich, where logos like that of Wegelin & Cie disappeared after the bank went under in 2009 or, as with Basel-based Sarasin, are adapted to reflect new ownership.

The shift has cost financial centers Zurich and Geneva tens of thousands of jobs. A strong Swiss currency – used by investors as a haven in times of financial market turbulence – has also taken a toll.

The sale of Finter Bank last year (in German) marked the bitter end of an epoch: Bank Vontobel bought the Swiss private bank from Italy's wealthy Pesenti family. 

Finter's assets had dwindled to less than 2 billion francs – too few to sustain life for a private bank in Switzerland.

«di alti Bank» Born

Finter has disappeared recently, but three former bankers and another partner at the Swiss firm are reopening the bank – housed at a prime location a stone's throw from Paradeplatz – as a pop-up bar.

Swiss bankers quaffing pricey wine and spirits is nothing new – Zurich's financial district has no shortage of upscale drinking holes. Bars like the Carlton next to UBS' headquarters, which offers a popular Tuesday after-work party, fill every evening with well-dressed bankers.

But «di alti Bank», or «old bank» in Swiss-German, promises to do more than offer expensive drinks: it wants to recreate the charm of «the golden age of banking» in Finter's former premises for the next 30 days. 

Drinking Amid Stocks, Bonds

The bar promises a «top-notch» offering of beers, wine, gin, whiskey and other spirits in what used to serve as Finter's banking hall – just until the building is torn down in October to make way for new office space.

The project has its roots in financial crisis gallows humor, when Finter bankers joked that so many colleagues had disappeared or been let go that they may as well open a bar in the spacious entry hall. The idea took shape after the bank was sold last year.

«We're not just doing this for us: it's also a way of honoring the bank's history, its employees – some of whom have worked here for 25 years or more – and giving it a proper send-off,» said Maurice Suter, one of the bar's partners and a seven-year Finter employee, told finews.ch.

«alte Boerse» Nightclub

The bank's fourth-floor reception desk has been retooled as the bar itself, light wood paneling has been painted black, wallpaper is made of old stock and bond certificates, and its logo resembles that of an expensive private bank – in gilded font, naturally. 

«di alti Bar» launches this Thursday and is open evenings from Tuesday to Saturday through Sept. 23.

Finter isn't the first financial firm to be repurposed: the former Swiss stock exchange just off Paradeplatz, or «alte Boerse,» is now home to upscale club «Aura» as well as a Nespresso boutique. 

After the pop-up bar closes its doors, Suter says that while he enjoyed his banking career, he has no plans to return to banking – he already has a new job at an IT start-up.