Assets deposited in Swiss banks tumble in 2008

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

GENEVA, Feb. 24 (Chinese media) -- The value of assets deposited in Swiss banks

shrank by more than a quarter last year as the global financial crisis took

hold, the official Swissinfo news website reported Tuesday.

Total deposits fell by 1.41 trillion Swiss francs (about 1.21 trillion U.S.

dollars) to 3.82 trillion Swiss francs, the lowest level since August 2005, the

website quoted the Swiss National Bank (SNB) as saying.

Assets from foreign customers shrank by 882 billion Swiss francs, as

pressure grew against Switzerland's offshore banking activities, while the value

of domestic funds fell by 531 billion Swiss francs, according to the SNB's

monthly statistical bulletin.

The statistics did not break down the figures by institution or

differentiate between customer withdrawals and erosion of value due to volatile

market conditions.

Foreign private customers saw the highest proportional drop in assets -- 36

percent -- leaving 671 billion Swiss francs in Swiss vaults. That is the lowest

deposit amount from foreign private customers since the end of 1998.

Assets held by foreign institutional customers dropped 23 percent to some

1.39 trillion Swiss francs.