With many banks both in Europe and the United States examining the possibility of cross-border mergers, the Finance Forum's theme, 'The bank of the future - Strategies for increasingly competitive markets' is very appropriate.

However, its Swiss location may be less so, given the low key approach to cross border alliances currently being taken by banks such Credit Suisse and UBS. Asked by Swissinfo for his opinion on why this is, Professor Bernet observed that:

"In my opinion, big mergers belong to the 1990s. Today we have to focus more on new business models which open up opportunities to profit from economies of scale...without all the costs of full integration. I think that is why our big banks are now following a strategy that is not the same as the one they were pursuing in the 1990s."

Speaking with regard to UBS and Credit Suisse's prospects in competing with their large US counterparts, the banking expert suggested that:

"I think the core market for our banks in future should be Europe and Asia. Both Swiss players have a good position here, given their financial strength and improvements in profitability over the past few years. In strategic terms, they had some problems in the past, but I think they have now done their homework. The same cannot be said for many other European, and even American, competitors."