Hello, I have an interesting story for independent traders. I am currently setting up an activity in Switzerland( Futures, IIP program of CME ) and I needed to create an account at a swiss bank before getting the proper business immatriculation( I don't know how you call it in the US ). For some reason, I wanted to create an account at Credit Suisse. I call and a nice girl starts to tell me what documents I need to bring, what type of wire I need to do to get the account on time...and we convene on a meeting at one CS agency in Lausanne, but just before the end of the discussion, she asked : "Oh and yes... By the way, what's your activity? - I buy and sell commodities. I am a member of the Chicago Exchange. - Uh...Well...Uh ...I am concerned we won't be able to create an account for you. - What?...Why? - We have pretty strict guidelines at CS about which type of activities we want to support which we don't. - Uh... Come on. You even have an entire page for Commodity traders on your website. -Let me check with my boss...One minute" She comes back 5 minutes later and confirms. I was quite bummed in fact. I am used to it when I am in France. One day someone from the administration, who must be working 20 hours max per week, told me speculation wasn't a job and that I couldn't be affiliated to them, but I was super stoked on this answer 'cause it enabled me to be affiliated to a much cheaper organism...LOL... Sometimes it's great to deal with complete morons. Here with a proper institution like CS, my feelings are more mixed. I don't know what scared them the most, "Chicago" and the US, or commodities speculation. I guess it is the later and hypocrisy is running very high here when you think that a good part of the wealth of the Swiss came from their hub status for commodity traders. I am also sure CS never ever traded commodities...LOL Whatever, I found an other bank of course so case closed, but I still feel pissed about this permanent scapegoating. Thoughts?
I think your first mistake was picking up the phone and speaking to whichever front-line person answered... Relationships.... Coming in cold almost never works to your advantage... Find someone in a position of responsibility, or someone who knows someone (who knows someone, etc), and work that angle.
Yes man, it's true I didn't know anybody there. That's what I did with the second bank, but I already had assets there so I wanted to diversify and choose CS for my "swiss company"... Anyway, by how the girl told me there was a problem, I am sure there would have been a problem for anybody. It had nothing to do with me. It's like a big warning suddenly popped-up in her head... And by the way, you shouldn't have to use relationship just for creating a "consignation" account, it's not like I am borrowing money or asking anything special, they should just be stoked to have business coming out of nowhere like this.
I can assure you they love money very much. Infinitely, actually. I guess probably they don't want to deal with people from US - thanks to your own govt.
does not matter, obviously: -------------- - I buy and sell commodities. I am a member of the Chicago Exchange. - Uh...Well...Uh ...I am concerned we won't be able to create an account for you. ----------------------
If you had presented yourself as a "hedger" or "commercial user", even with bogus documentation to CS, they may have "tripped over" themselves to have your account. :eek:
Seems she was quite right! Obviously "Buy and sell commodities" is speculation. Q Swiss to vote on ban for speculation in agricultural commods Tue Oct 1, 2013 1:14pm EDT http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/01/switzerland-commodities-speculation-idUSL5N0HN2DH20131001 GENEVA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Switzerland is obliged to hold a vote on banning speculation in agricultural commodities after a left wing political initiative gained enough signatures to force it to under Swiss law. UQ