Important Events:
Switzerland and the World

Important Events:
Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC)
Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS)

A new Swiss Constitution is adopted after a short war between Protestant (liberal) and Catholic (conservative) cantons. This civil war (Sonderbundskrieg) was won by the liberals.

Creation of the Swiss Franc.

(Before 1850 about 860 different coins were in circulation in Switzerland and all were legal tender.)

A period of intense railway building.

The establishment of joint-stock banks in Switzerland such as UBS and SBC is closely linked with the construction of railway lines and with the industrialization of the country.

Basle, now the second largest city in Switzerland, has been a financial center for centuries, similar to Geneva.

Formal constitution of the "Bankverein" as a consortium of six Private Banking-houses in Basle: Bischoff zu St.Alban, Ehinger & Cie., J. Merian- Forcart, Passavant & Cie., J. Riggenbach and von Speyr & Cie. The consortium acted as an underwriting syndicate for these banks.

Geneva, at that time the most important banking center in Switzerland, sets up a Stock Exchange.