Walter Kielholz and Credit Suisse want to lead Switzerland into the European Union – merely for market access in the bloc for banks, the father of the Swiss hard-right argues.
Christoph Blocher, the businessman and architect of the Swiss People's Party, or SVP, launched an attack against backers of a Swiss framework agreement with the European Union. The 78-year-old former government minister took aim at Eric Gujer, editor of leading European daily «Neuen Zuercher Zeitung»; Walter Kielholz; and Credit Suisse, in an interview with Swiss weekly «Weltwoche» (in German behind paywall).
«NZZ is currently the voice undermining a self-determined Switzerland», Blocher said. «The driving forces can be found in the epicenter of Credit Suisse and its proximity.» Blocher went on to say that he was referring to Kielholz (pictured below), once a top power broker who presided the Swiss bank's board.
«He wants Switzerland to join the EU. That's why his people are demanding a submissive contract, no matter what it contains», Blocher said. His comments hit at the heart of controversy in Switzerland over a deal governing ties with the European Union.
Switzerland's still-influential business faction is urging a deal, while conservatives like the SVP are critical. Blocher didn't clarify what he meant when referring to Kielholz's «people», though he degraded NZZ editor Gujer as «speaking in his master's voice». He presumably means the cozy ties between the paper and the business community and banking in particular.
Blocher accused 69-year-old Kielholz of «special interests»: the long-time banker and Swiss Re chairman just wants unfettered access for Swiss banks in the EU. «The banks believe this will change through a framework agreement. But it's nothing», said the former lawmaker, who recently had to stem a revolt in the ranks of his local SVP following an electoral setback.
Bankers Back Pact
Market access has long been a top priority for Switzerland's financial center, which still draws a large part of its clientele from the bloc. The Swiss Bankers Association has devoted considerable resources to lobbying in Bern and Brussels.
The lobby group is still hopeful for an agreement even as prospects for a deal fade: «We assume that without a framework agreement, the status quo for our banks would dramatically worsen and with it the option for better market access», Chairman Herbert Scheidt said in an interview (in German) last week.
Eroding Influence
It isn't clear why Blocher views Credit Suisse as a driving political force behind an EU agreement; the bank already possesses access to the bloc through various branches on the continent including a sizable office in Dublin.
The criticism of Kielholz specifically is also somewhat odd, given the banker stepped down at Credit Suisse five years ago. His influence has eroded dramatically since the financial crisis, and his reputation suffered from his dual role at the time as vice-chairman of Swiss Re and Chairman of Credit Suisse during the financial crisis of 2008/09.
Decades-Long Feud
Kielholz's ties to Credit Suisse, which he once termed as belonging «to the heart of Swiss business», are today informal at best. Blocher's attack can likely be viewed more as the result of years of antagonism between the two political foes.
The banker's business-friendly politics were increasingly crowded out by Blocher's populist rhetoric with voters. For his part, Blocher is believed to nurse a grudge at Paradeplatz for mobbing him out of a board seat at Swiss Bank Corporation, a predecessor bank to UBS, in 1993.
