Evaluating the Quality of Corporate Governance of Swiss Banks

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate the corporate governance frameworks of listed Swiss bank, to evaluate their performance across several indicators and identify strengths and weaknesses of their internal guidelines and code of best practice. More specifically, we use the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, the Basel Committee Guidance on Corporate Governance for Banks and the Swiss Code of Best Practices for Corporate Governance to develop a framework to evaluate the corporate governance of Swiss banks relative to factors such as board structure, board composition, transparency, compensation and risk management To meet the aim of the research, we collect qualitative data from publicly available yearly reports, corporate governance documents and codes of conduct from a sample of listed Swiss banks. We find that, overall, Swiss banks have a sound corporate governance framework. However, board gender diversity is low. Also, there are differences between smaller and bigger banks in board composition. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the corporate governance structure of listed Swiss banks and they can be a useful tool for the banks, which can use our findings to implement enhancements to their corporate governance frameworks.