Escher laid the foundations for the success of Zurich as a financial center

Zurich had already become a major trading center by the 18th century. But the cities of Basel, Geneva, and St.Gallen, located close to Switzerland's borders, played more important roles in business activities, including banking. It was not until Zurich-born Alfred Escher founded Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (which later became Credit Suisse) in the 19th century that the city became a business center and transportation hub. As time went on, this major bank played a key role in the development of the Swiss capital market.

Zurich's importance grew constantly after the second world war, not only in response to the vast demand for capital from abroad, but also because domestic business rapidly began to flourish again. During the 1950s, issuance activities, gold trading, the foreign exchange business, and asset management of a standard comparable to Geneva and Basel generated the flow of income which enabled the City of Zurich to establish the dominant position that it has maintained ever since. (Baumann/Rutsch, pp. 47f)

19th Century

The Pioneering Era: with Alfred Escher: Financing Switzerland's Major Infrastructure and Transport Projects
1833 The Canton of Zurich established the "Universitas Turicensis," the first university in Europe not to be founded by a sovereign prince or by the church, but by a democratic state.
1848 The transition from the loose Swiss confederation to the Federal State
1850 A standard currency - the franc - was introduced to replace the eleven different currencies (with 319 different coins) which existed in the confederation. (Baumann/Rutsch, p. 29)
1855 On February 7, 1854, the Federal Parliament enacted the legislation on the “Swiss Federal polytechnical school in association with a school for higher education in the exact, political and humanistic sciences”. The "polytechnical school" started operating in fall 1855.
1856 Alfred Escher and Others Establish Schweizerische Kreditanstalt in Zurich.
Alfred Escher (1819 – 1882) realized that only a well-developed railway network with an Alpine transit route could prevent Switzerland from economic and cultural isolation. Escher, who was President of the Nordostbahn rail company and also President of the National Council at this time, established Schweizerische Kreditanstalt in order to continue financing the construction of the railways; he was to play a key part in shaping the bank's destiny for more than 20 years as Chairman of its Board of Directors. He went on to found Schweizerische Rentenanstalt (now Swiss Life) only one year later.
1882 Escher knew that foreign countries would not provide any funds to build a line along the Lukmanier route, so he turned his attention to promoting the Gotthard line as the link between Central and Southern Europe. Without him, there would be no Gotthard tunnel and without this tunnel, Switzerland would not be a modern country with a strong economy. The construction of the Gotthard tunnel is just as important a milestone as the construction of the Suez Canal, which was opened in 1869 to connect the Red Sea with the Mediterranean.
1880 Opening of the old Zurich Stock Exchange
1898 Bankverein (Swiss Bank Corporation) was present on the Paradeplatz, and established its first foreign branch (in London).
1905 National Bank established (operational since 1907) in Berne and Zurich.
1912 The merger of Bank in Winterthur (1862) and Toggenburger Bank (1863) created Union Bank of Switzerland (SBG; Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft, Union de Banques Suisses, Unione di Banche Svizzere).

1929-1939

The Inter-War Period
1929 Stock market crash in New York
Global economic crisis
1931 German bank crisis
1933 Swiss Volksbank rescued by the Federal government
1934 The first "Swiss Federal Banking Act" came into force to provide better protection for clients' deposits.
Establishment of the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC, now known as FINMA)
-Protection for depositors and creditors
1936 Devaluation of the Swiss franc
1939-1945 Switzerland was spared from conquest by Hitler's regime during the second world war.

1945-1979

Post-war Era: Switzerland Rises to Become an International Financial Center
Stable Conditions and Services of High Quality The development of the Swiss banks since the second world war is an extraordinary success story, even if individual events since then have severely tested the sector and sometimes even the entire country. Foreigners were prompted to move money to the safety of Switzerland by Germany's economic miracle as well as the Cold War.
The country enjoyed special status after 1945 because it had survived virtually intact. Stable conditions prevailed in the federalist state. Peaceful labor relations had been guaranteed since 1937 thanks to the market economy in Switzerland. The savings ratio was high, the national budget was balanced, the franc was stable, and inflation was low. Strict capital adequacy regulations for banks ensured that the rest of the world regarded Swiss financial institutions as very stable. The Federal Banking Act also protected clients and their financial privacy. Given this framework of conditions, the Swiss banking sector was able to acquire a unique reputation.
One decisive factor in the success of the Swiss financial sector was the exceptionally high quality of its services. It was against this background that the Swiss financial center launched out on its triumphant progress, going on to produce the package of services which later achieved worldwide fame as Swiss Banking. There was no need to invent a Swiss style of banking. It was founded on the ethos of a tradition dating back over the centuries. (Baumann/Rutsch, p.40)
1945 SBG relocated its headquarters to Zurich and took over Eidgenössische Bank.
1946 The Washington Agreement
  By signing this agreement, Switzerland undertook to seize German assets and to pay CHF 250 million to the Allies (mainly the USA), without recognizing legal grounds for doing so. The agreement was reached against the background of the Allies' accusations against Switzerland regarding gold stolen by the German Reich and sold to the Swiss National Bank. The Washington Agreement was very important, because it enabled Switzerland to free itself of a debt.
1967 SBG merged with Interhandel to become the largest of the Swiss big banks.
1977 The Chiasso Scandal
  In April 1977, it became known that the senior management of the SKA branch in Chiasso had criminally placed clients' funds amounting to CHF 2.2 billion outside the bank with investment companies in Liechtenstein. This case shook people's trust in the Swiss banks, and led in 1979 to the popular initiative "Against the abuse of bank client confidentiality." This was rejected in 1984 with 73% "No" votes. The Chiasso scandal resulted in more extensive regulation which has been tremendously helpful to the Swiss financial center. Consequently, there is now virtually no "dirty money" left in Switzerland.

1980s

Paradigm Shift and Diversification of the Financial Center
Paradigm Shift Banks moved away from the straightforward interest-differential business and increasingly expanded their area of business to include global investment banking, which is capable of generating high income. The major banks in particular engaged in these lucrative but very risky activities such as capital transactions, advisory services for companies in connection with mergers and acquisitions, and also stock exchange trading, either on behalf of clients or for their own account. (Baumann/Rutsch, p. 20)
Zurich Develops from a Banking Center into a Financial Center During the 1980s and 1990s, large numbers of specialist financial institutions (mainly hedge funds) also opened their doors along the shores of Lake Zurich, particularly in Canton Schwyz where tax rates are favorable. This created a kind of cluster, or geographical catchment area, which gave a further boost to the importance of Zurich as a financial center. Moreover, the nearby small town of Zug, which also offers attractive tax conditions, developed into a hub for commodities trading and asset management. In contrast to the situation in Geneva, Zurich's old-established families never played such an influential part in shaping the development of the financial sector. One reason for this may well be that Zurich, which remains extremely open-minded to this day, has always been a cosmopolitan melting-pot where even the top bosses of the banks did not necessarily have to be natives of the city; on the contrary, they could perfectly well come from other parts of Switzerland and later on from anywhere in the world, as attested by the example of Brady Dougan, CEO of Credit Suisse Group, who was born in the USA. (Baumann/Rutsch, p. 48)

1990s

The Real Estate Crisis and the Wave of Consolidations
1990-1994 The crisis that hit Switzerland's real estate sector and its regional banks led to a wave of consolidations among the regional banks. The fiasco of the Spar- and Leihkasse Thun (a savings bank) in 1991 brought about a recovery process at several levels in the sector, in spite of further dramatic events involving the regional and cantonal banks. In the interest of creditor protection, the accounting regulations were therefore expanded, the capital adequacy requirements were tightened, and the SFBC was granted more scope to exert influence on auditors.   
1990 Credit Suisse acquired Bank Leu
1993 Credit Suisse acquired Schweizerische Volksbank
1997 Since 1997, the phrase "Private Banker" has enjoyed legal protection as a collective brand name. Other renowned private banks such as Julius Bär, Vontobel, Sarasin and Dreyfus became stock corporations during the course of the 20th century. By 2008, there were only 14 genuine private banks left in Switzerland (Baumann/Rutsch, p. 29)
1997 Credit Suisse acquired Winterthur Insurance, marking its entry into the bancassurance business.
1998 Merger between Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft (SBG) and Schweizerischer Bankverein (SBV) to create UBS.
A settlement running to billions between the major banks and Jewish plaintiffs who brought a class action ended the controversy about dormant assets.
2005 Bilateral II agreements with the EU: Taxation of interest income and combating fraud (legal assistance in cases of tax evasion involving indirect taxes).
2006 Credit Suisse sold Winterthur to AXA.

2000 till today

 
2007 to present The American subprime crisis developed into a financial crisis, which in fall 2008 triggered a crisis throughout the global banking system, spelling the end for the powerful US investment banks.
  Pressure from the USA and the EU on the Swiss financial center. The Federal Council decided to relax banking secrecy, to adopt the relevant OECD standards, and also to provide administrative assistance in cases of tax evasion under certain conditions.