Zurich and Geneva

The Americans took the top of the Swiss table¹

In Mergermarket's 2025 Switzerland table by value, Goldman Sachs led with USD 77.2bn across 14 deals and JPMorgan was second, with UBS - first in 2024 - third at USD 72.0bn. UBS still did far more deals than either, 37 against 14 and 11: the US banks won the largest mandates, the home bank did the volume.

By count, UBS and then Rothschild²

Ranked by number of Swiss deals in 2025, Rothschild & Co was second with 23, behind UBS's 37, followed by PwC (21), BDO (20) and KPMG Corporate Finance (16); Goldman Sachs, first by value, did 14. The volume of Swiss deal work sits with the home bank, one independent and the accounting firms.

One home investment bank since 2023³

UBS completed its takeover of Credit Suisse on 12 June 2023. Switzerland went from two global investment banks to one, which halved the number of domestic banks a Swiss graduate could join at that level. Guides and forum threads written before 2023 still treat them as two employers.

The boutiques win large Swiss deals¹

Evercore was fifth by value in 2025 on just four deals, Perella Weinberg seventh on three (up from 97th the year before) and Centerview tenth. The Swiss boutique IFBC ranked ninth with 11 deals. On large Swiss transactions, a boutique seat covering the market can see more than its size suggests.

Geneva is a different business⁴

Geneva's financial centre describes itself by three pillars - private and institutional asset management, commodity trade finance, and commercial and retail banking - with 38,000 jobs and 12.9% of the canton's GDP. M&A is not among them. Choose Geneva for wealth management or trade finance, not as a second M&A market.

Which language, depends on the region⁵

Switzerland has four national languages. Swiss German is the most used at work, followed by standard German, French, English and Italian; French is the main language of the French-speaking west, the Romandie. English is widely used in business, but the language of the office around you depends on which side of the country it is in.

St. Gallen is the target⁶

St. Gallen is the Swiss university on the standard target lists, alongside the German-speaking targets WHU and Mannheim. The University area covers the targets country by country.

For EU and EFTA citizens, the door is open⁷

Switzerland runs two systems. EU and EFTA nationals get easier access to the labour market under the free movement agreement, whatever their qualifications; everyone else goes through the separate, restrictive system for third-state nationals below.

For non-EU nationals, the permit is the obstacle^8,9

Switzerland admits workers from outside the EU and EFTA only if they are highly qualified - a degree plus several years of professional experience - and only if the employer shows no suitable candidate is available from Switzerland or the EU/EFTA. For a graduate that is a far higher bar than the UK’s Graduate visa route.

Non-EU permits are rationed, and the employer carries the burden^7,8

Admissions from outside the EU and EFTA are capped by annual quotas set by the Federal Council, which left the 2026 quotas unchanged. The employer must register the vacancy, advertise it through the European job network, and document that nobody from Switzerland or the EU/EFTA could be found before contacting a third-country candidate.