While the international firms have not been slow to move into the large commercial markets of western and southern Europe, they have proved less expansionary when it comes to the specialist financial centres, where transactional work is smaller and the financial services sector is already dominated by highly specialised firms.
Financial services has historically been at the heart of the Swiss economy. Approximately 10% of the country’s GDP is generated by the private banking sector – up from 7% in 1990 – and many lawyers, especially in Geneva, have understandably made this area their speciality.
