Some 400 guests traveled to St. Gallen on Thursday for the annual Bankers Day of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA). The centerpiece was a changing of the guard: Marcel Rohner stepped down as chairman after five years and passed the baton to Giorgio Pradelli.

The handover had been known since May, as finews.ch reported (German only).

Pradelli remains chief executive of EFG International. Since last week, he has also been vice president of Economiesuisse, the Swiss business federation.

A «Problematic Omission»

Rohner used his fifth and final address to put a demand to politicians, lawmakers and the regulator. Competitiveness, he argued, belongs on the same footing as the protection of depositors and clients and the stability of the financial system.

Anything less would be a «problematic omission,» he said. As evidence, he pointed to gold trading, the eurobond market and the fund business.

In each case, entire business lines, value creation and know-how migrated abroad because of misguided regulatory and tax incentives.

The issue has long preoccupied the industry. At the SBA's industry forum in late August, banks named regulatory density as their single biggest risk, finews.ch reported (German only).

Apprenticeships, Research, Professional Ethics

Rohner also paid tribute to Switzerland's apprenticeship system and to the top-tier research at the Swiss Finance Institute, founded 20 years ago. About 130 banks currently train some 3,000 apprentices.

Turning to the Credit Suisse crisis, he reminded his audience of the heightened responsibility that banks bear. His farewell was brief: «It has been an honor and a privilege for me to hold this office.»

His successor picks up the same theme. «Continuity is important to me, but always with a focus on what lies ahead,» Pradelli said as he bade Rohner farewell.

Together with politicians, the authorities and the industry, he wants to further strengthen the competitiveness of the Swiss financial center.

Four New Faces on the Board

The association's 114th annual general meeting also elected four new members to the SBA's board of directors: Markus Ronner, vice chairman of UBS Group; Stefan Bollinger, chief executive of Julius Baer; Basil Heeb, chairman of Raiffeisen Switzerland; and Georg Schubiger, co-chief executive of Vontobel. Heeb also serves as the association's vice chairman.