Important Events:
Switzerland and the World

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

The politics of "détente"
between East and West starts.

Signing of the Moscow-Treaty ("normalisation-treaty") on August 12th, 1970 between Willy Brandt, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and Alexei Kosygin, prime minister of the USSR.

The SBC subsidiary Basle Securities Corporation, New York, becomes operative.

SBC Australia Ltd., Sydney, is ready for business.

SBC sets up the Swiss Bank Corporation Financial Ltd., Montreal, with a branch office in Toronto.

SBC acquires Warag Bank, Zurich, which specializes in consumer loans.

UBS establishes the American UBS Corporation, New York, for underwriting purposes in the US-market. as well as Union Bank of Switzerland (Underwriters) Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda.

UBS opens a Representative Office in Bogotà.

UBS introduces salary accounts.

"Wolfsberg" estate

UBS purchases the "Wolfsberg" estate, which - in 1975 - is to become the bank's Management Training Center.

In New York, the first electronic exchange - Nasdaq - becomes operational.

The Pound-Sterling switches to the decimal system.

The Gold-Convertibility of the US-Dollar is abandoned.

SBC opens a branch office in Tokyo.

SBC employs at the end of this year 8846 persons.

The American UBS Corporation is renamed into UBS-DB Corporation, after Deutsche Bank took a 50%-holding.

UBS establishes Representative Offices in Montreal, San Francisco, Caracas, Singapore, and Bahrain.

At the end of this year UBS, for the first time, employs more than 10'000 persons (11'077, of which 91 work abroad).

The United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark join the EC.

In Switzerland new restrictions on bank lending enter into force combined with new negative interest rates of up to 10% per quarter (40% p.a.) on the growth of foreign deposits in Swiss Francs with domestic banks. The restrictions are in force until 1975/1979.

President Richard Nixon meets China's leader Mao Ze Dong in February 1972.

SBC celebrates its 100th anniversary and establishes the Swiss Bank Corporation Centenary Foundation 1972 for the support of cultural, scientific and charitable or similar institutions or enterprises.

Max Staehelin succeeds Samuel Schweizer as Chairman of SBC.

Lise Girardin, Geneva, member of the council of states (Ständerätin), is the first woman on SBC's Board of Directors.

The SBC subsidiary Bank Finalba AG, Zurich, is created through the merger of Bank Frei, Treig & Co. AG, Warag Bank and Bank Golay & Cie., all of which were banks for consumer loans.

SBC establishes the Swiss Bank and Trust Corporation Ltd., Cayman Islands, British West-Indies.

SBC creates an International Advisory Council of eleven personalities from eleven different countries.

In February UBS holds - for the first time - Press Conferences in Zurich and Lausanne to comment on the business results of 1971.

UBS establishes a Representative Office in Chicago.

UBS opens its Tokyo branch, the second operational banking unit outside of Switzerland.

UBS extends its Share Participation Plan to middle management ("Officer" and "Assistant Vice President").