Case studies
Fee-free continuation of a custody account containing Russian shares that cannot be sold due to the measures in connection with the situation in Ukraine
Topic: Fees and charges Case number: 2023/22The client wanted to terminate his relationship with the bank. In this context, the bank informed him that the Russian shares in his custody account could not be sold due to the sanctions against Russia. The client was able to understand this, but demanded that the bank continue the custody account free of charge. The bank refused, whereupon he took the case to the Ombudsman. The latter saw no misconduct on the part of the bank in this regard and therefore no basis for mediation proceedings.
Fees for closing a vested benefits account after the client moved abroad
Topic: Fees and charges Case number: 2023/21The client gave up his job in Switzerland and emigrated to the USA. His small pension assets with the pension fund of only CHF 1 600 were transferred to an account of the bank's vested benefits foundation. When he had the balance paid out to his father's account in Switzerland, the foundation deducted half of it, i.e. CHF 800, as fees. The client complained about this without success and took the case to the Ombudsman. As part of the Ombudsman proceedings, the vested benefits foundation reduced the fees to CHF 200.
Fees for clients domiciled abroad following an inheritance
Topic: Fees and charges Case number: 2023/20The son and co-heir of the client, who had lived abroad before his death, complained to the Ombudsman that the bank was still charging monthly fees for clients domiciled abroad, even though both members of the community of heirs, he and his mother, were resident in Switzerland. The bank refused to stop charging the fees and to reimburse the community of heirs for the fees charged after the death of the account holder. The son then submitted the case to the Ombudsman. In the Ombudsman proceedings, the bank was prepared to waive the charge retroactively under certain conditions.
Early withdrawal fee on a savings account following an incorrect transfer
Topic: Fees and charges Case number: 2023/19The client transferred CHF 90 000 from her savings account to her account at another bank. For reasons that remained unclear, this amount was returned by the recipient bank and credited back to the savings account. Her client advisor at the sender bank advised her to initiate the transfer again, whereupon it was successfully processed. At the end of the year, however, the bank charged the client a non-termination fee of CHF 800 because, in its opinion, the two transfers of CHF 90 000 exceeded the termination-free amount of CHF 100 000 by CHF 80 000. Following the client's complaint, the bank was only prepared to refund CHF 400, whereupon the client referred the case to the Ombudsman. In the Ombudsman proceedings, the bank finally waived the entire non-termination fee.
Losses in connection with an asset management mandate with a high bond component
Topic: Asset management Case number: 2023/18The client's daughter complained to the Ombudsman about losses that her elderly mother had suffered with an asset management mandate with the investment objective "income" in 2022. The losses were primarily due to the high proportion of bonds in the mandate, as bonds fell in price in 2022 due to the rapid rise in interest rates. She did not consider the conclusion of such a mandate in 2021 to have been sensible in principle, as the acquisition of bonds with an interest rate of 0% could only result in losses in the long term. The bank rejected the claim for damages and argued that the investment objective was in line with the carefully established client profile. The client had been sufficiently informed of the risks associated with the mandate. The Bank was also not prepared to make concessions in the Ombudsman proceedings.