Information on contactless and dormant assets
Contact between the Bank and its clients can break off, the assets deposited with the bank may become contactless or dormant.
In such cases, the Banking Ordinance and the Guidelines of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) on the treatment of assets without contact and dormant assets held at Swiss banks stipulate the following:
- Assets for which no further client contact can be established are managed as contactless for a period of 10 years.
- After this period, these assets are considered dormant for another 50 years and then published on https://www.dormantaccounts.ch. This publication applies to all assets with a value exceeding CHF 500 or for which the value is unknown.
- If no legitimate claimant comes forward within one year of publication, the banks transfer the assets to the federal government. Assets with a value of no more than CHF 500 are transferred without publication.
- All claims on the part of the client or his/her legal successors shall lapse at such time as said assets are transferred.
- A search for contactless and dormant assets can be initiated through the Swiss Banking Ombudsman (www.bankingombudsman.ch).
- Change of name, address and telephone number
Please notify us immediately of any change to your name, address or telephone number. - E-banking
Use the E-Banking portal on a regular basis. - Special instructions
Please inform is if you plan to travel for a long time and your correspondence should be redirected to ensure that we can still contact you in urgent cases. - Granting powers of attorney / testamentary disposition
We highly recommend to designate a trusted person whom we can seek out if contact is lost. However, we are only allowed to disclose information to this person if you have provided written authorization for this person to act in this capacity. - You can also mention your account with us in your testamentary disposition.
If we determine that contact is lost, we will attempt to restore contact with you with all due care.
These measures will follow the principle of proportionality and are based on the value of the assets concerned. We may also mandate third parties to do research. Such third parties are subject to the same duty of confidentiality as employees of the Bank itself. The principle of bank secrecy will therefore be preserved.
If our efforts remain unsuccessful, the status of contactless is considered established. In this case, the Banking Ordinance obligates us to:
- Report safe deposit boxes and all assets with a value exceeding CHF 500 to a central database equipped with state-of-the-art security precautions, in which only the Banking Ombudsman, while maintaining bank secrecy, may conduct investigations on behalf of the beneficiary;
- Publish information about the bank client on https://www.dormantaccounts.ch 50 years after dormancy has been established (i.e. 60 years following the most recent contact), if all assets associated with one bank client together exceed the amount of CHF 500;
- Transfer the assets to the Federal Department of Finance if no justified claim to the assets has been asserted during the publication period. All claims to the assets shall lapse at such time as said assets are transferred.
Even in the case of contactless and dormant assets, your rights and/or those of your legal successors shall remain intact up until such point as assets are transferred to the federal government. We only deviate from contractual provisions if this is in your well-understood interest. We may have safe deposit boxes opened in the event of unpaid rental costs, to complete efforts related to a search and with a view to their liquidation and transfer to the federal government. We may store the contents of opened safe deposit boxes centrally.
Our usual fees apply in the case of contactless and dormant assets. Should these fees exceed the value of the existing assets, we are entitled to remove the negative position from our books and close your account, even without an order from you.
In addition, we may charge the corresponding account for any costs incurred in connection with research, the special treatment and monitoring of contactless and dormant assets as well as for publication.
