CIC Column

The unloved "banker"!

When I enlisted in the military training school many years ago, I had to become accustomed to a whole host of new and not always pleasant experiences from one day to the next.It quickly became clear that people are creatures of habit, as I soon got used to this new way of life, despite all of the discomfort. This was something that I had never experienced before and I managed to resist all of it successfully: the language, the vulgar atmosphere and, above all, the vocabulary. Once you were in the uniform among like-minded people, everyone communicated in a language of which I had no previous knowledge or experience. It was a Swiss dialect, but the vocabulary, jargon and tone were all completely different. And so I came to avoid using certain expressions during my time in the military, and this also explained my lack of enthusiasm for life as a soldier.

I had similar experiences with language later on in my career in the professional world and also adhered to similar behaviour patterns. As I changed career paths and joined the business world of banking, I had to learn a lots of new skills and immersed myself in an environment with its own language. While doing so, I didn't find anything to be reprehensible, it was all just an everyday part of the job However, an increasing number of anglicisms came to enter the technical and colloquial language used in the banking industry. French expressions that had been used previously were now being replaced by English phrases. Regardless of whether this made sense or not remains to be seen, but the banking industry was being "Americanised" in its essence. Business models were being rewritten and English expressions were being incorporated into the jargon.

The last few years have seen Swiss banks become a hot topic of conversation throughout the world, and since then I have become aware of how some words can have such a negative effect on and vilify the entire sector.

A good example of this is the "Bonus" — a constant cause of speculation and condemnation. However, the word that I like the least and which also has very negative connotations in its meaning in German-speaking countries is the "Banker"! Many years ago, the word "Banquier" was used in German for this position. This is a synonym for the word "Banker", which is hardly used today. When the word "Banker" is used, you think of someone who is greedy for money. In contrast, the "Banquier" is a man of the world who can be trusted and who you can expect to have an ethical attitude towards his work. It makes me extremely happy to be able to work in a French-oriented Swiss bank, in which the "Banquier" still has a place and the French language is still used in everyday speech. Regardless of whether clients want "acheter" or "vendre", they will always be understood in our bank. The only thing that we will not do is take "French" leave, so to say, because we, as "Banquiers", work with a sense of decorum!

Markus Allemann
Head of Private Clients in Basel
This column appeared on 10.04.2012 in Basellandschaftliche Zeitung bz