• Your own English-speaking Swiss banker
• 100% state deposit insurance backed by one of the wealthiest Swiss cantons
• Online banking in English
• Extensive investment services in many currencies
• Open by mail or in person
• Standard & Poor and Moody's rate the bank's bonds AAA (at the time of writing, rating may change).

Los honorarios establecidos para esta cuenta son 1199 francos suizos (convertir a dólares estadounidenses o a euros). Los honorarios establecidos han de abonarse a Micheloud & Cie por sus servicios y en un solo pago. Se devolverán íntegramente si el banco rechaza su solicitud. Puede pagarnos en cualquier divisa. Su cuenta puede abrirse en francos suizos o en muchas otras divisas (consulte a continuación "Divisas disponibles").

One of the largest banks in Switzerland, century-old, fully owned by a large and wealthy Swiss canton that offers the bank's clients 100% deposit insurance. Switzerland has no real equivalent of FDIC and this is the only of the 500-odd Swiss banks that offers 100% deposit insurance. Modern, well run and friendly service recently awarded ISO 9001 standards. No branches abroad.

If we feel that you do not plan to use your account for long-term saving and investment, we reserve the right to decline your application.

The bank expects you to deposit at least 150,000 Swiss francs (equivalent to $134,000 or EUR 102,000 or £94,000) within a month of opening the account and maintain this balance for as long as you keep the account. You do not need to make a deposit the day you open the account but it's a good idea.

We have negotiated this low minimum balance for our clients but please consider that the bank's target client deposits at least 250,000 Swiss francs (equivalent to $224,000 or EUR 170,000 or £157,000 ) and uses his/her account for long-term saving and investment. If your plan is to receive some payment and spend it all with a card, the bank won't be interested to do business with you. This does not mean you can't use your funds whenever you need to - quite the contrary. The money is never blocked so you can withdraw all of your funds at any time. But the bank does not offer current accounts for foreign clients. To maintain a mutually satisfactory relationship with the bank, we recommend that at least 50% of what you deposit beyond the minimum balance remain on the account to be invested for the long run. For instance, if you deposit 300,000 Swiss francs in the year, we recommend you do not withdraw more than 75,000 CHF in the short run. Of course if you have sold a house and need to buy a new one and this is a one-off operation and a reasonable balance will remain invested on the account, your Swiss banker won't mind of course. This is your money. But Swiss banks just don't want to see their accounts used as short terms funnels for money that comes in and goes out all the time.

Some examples to clarify:

• Client A deposits $200,000 upon opening, then $5,000 a month. She asks for an ATM card and spends about $2,000 a month.
  ⇒No problem.
• Client B deposits €500,000 from a house sale and withdraws €250,000 a month later to buy a flat. As a courtesy, he calls his Swiss banker and explains him what it is about. The remaining €250,000 are invested in short-term bonds.
  ⇒No problem.
• Client C deposits 300,000 Swiss francs and leaves them on the account for 3 years. She decides to buy a vacation home abroad and withdraws 200,000 Swiss francs to that effect. The balance is now 100,000 Swiss francs, that is 50,000 Swiss francs below the account minimum balance. As a courtesy, she calls her Swiss banker and tells him about her new property investment and intention to continue using the account to build up capital just like in the past.
  ⇒No problem.
• Client D deposits the minimum balance and every month deposits a further £50,000 which he transfers to various other accounts across the world. Any money beyond the minimum balance never stays and the account receives and sends money every couple days. Despite the fact that Mr D may have a perfectly legal business, Swiss banks are not interested to open current/in-and-out/trading accounts for foreign clients.
  ⇒Not acceptable.

The amount considered for the minimum balance is not just the cash but the total of all invested assets on your account, including any bonds, stocks, precious metal or mutual funds.

This account can be opened in person irrespective of your nationality or country of residence or by mail if you live in the countries listed below.

To open by mail, you need to fill out an application on this site and pay the account set up fee. We will immediately send you documents which you'll need to send back with a few documents (see below). Once we receive your documents back, the bank will finalize the account opening with you. The whole procedure takes about 10 days. Only clients who are official residents of the following countries can open by mail: UK, Canada, Australia, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Malta, Cyprus, Singapore and Japan.

To open in person, you need to call us to arrange an appointment in Switzerland. Two options:

• If we can look at your documents before you come you can go directly to the bank and your account will be opened within about 2 hours.
• If you prefer to come and see us first, you will need to first visit us at our head office in Lausanne, then we'll send you to the bank. The whole procedure, including account opening, takes about 6 hours.

The documents needed to open an account (by mail or in person) are your passport, a utility bill and documents about the economic origin of the money you intend to deposit. If opening by mail, you will need to authenticate a photocopy of your passport according to our instructions.

Full featured secured online banking system with military-grade encryption using a scratch list. You can access it from anywhere in the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a standard web browser. The system is very easy to use and has many powerful features:

• Check account statements online
• Transfer funds to any bank account in the world
• Send and receive encrypted messages to/from your account manager
• Manage your investments and trade online. You will have a direct access to electronic markets such as the Nasdaq or the Swiss stock exchange and will be able to enter your orders for all other world markets.

Online banking is not available for clients who live in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Italy, France and the UK.

The bank can issue you international credit and ATM cards you can use all over the world to pay in restaurants and shops or to withdraw cash at ATMs.

Mastercard and Visa credit cards available in Swiss Francs, US dollars and Euros, with or without the bank logo. Each withdrawal at an ATM cost a flat fee of 5 Swiss francs (equivalent to $4.48 or EUR 3.41 or £3.13).

The bank will issue credit cards only when you have deposited the minimum balance and you establish a security of at least one time the monthly credit limit. That means they will freeze that amount on your account for as long as you keep the card, a standard practice in Switzerland.

International ATM cards are also available with a maximum withdrawal of 1,000 Swiss francs per day (equivalent to $896 or EUR 681 or £627) and 5,000 Swiss francs per month (equivalent to $4,500 or EUR 3,400 or £3,100). These cards work anywhere you see the EC Maestro logo (several hundred thousands distributors all over the world). Withdrawals cost 5 Swiss francs per withdrawal (equivalent to $4.48 or EUR 3.41 or £3.13). There is no security required to get this card and no extra minimum balance requirement.

This account offers a very large selection of secure, well diversified investments in all major currencies. You can manage your investments in three different ways:

• With the help of your Swiss banker, you can invest your funds in simple, safe and easy to understand investment products.
• Discretionary mandate: In this case, your funds will be invested by a highly skill Swiss banker who spends his entire life managing assets on the behalf of clients according to tailor-made specifications you set. This service is available for accounts balance of 250,000 Swiss francs and up (equivalent to $224,000 or EUR 170,000 or £157,000).
• You can manage your investments yourself through the internet access.

Here are a few categories of investments available within the three opions:

Monetary investments - these are the most secure short to medium term investments available. The bank offers a great variety of fiduciary deposits and runs its own money market funds in Swiss francs, US, Canadian and Australian dollars, British pounds and euros.

Bonds - these are conservative, medium to long-term investments. The bank offers bond funds in Swiss francs, US, Canadian and Australian dollars, Euros and Sterling, well diversified and with different maturities. This gives you an efficient way to diversify your bond holdings even with a small investment so as not to put all your eggs in the same basket. You can also invest directly in any bond traded publicly anywhere in the world.

Stocks - You can buy shares of companies all over the world. Your name will not appear anywhere - the bank will buy everything under its own name. Any stock market in the world is accessible directly through your account. Electronic markets such as Virt-x, Nasdaq or NYSE can also be accessed directly through online banking without even speaking to your account manager.

Gold &  Precious Metals - invest in Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium and other precious metals directly from your account. You can buy gold bars and store them for example in a safe deposit box in the bank, or buy gold. For more convenience you can also have a metal account and buy precious metals by the ounce, like you would buy equities. Finally you can buy shares of gold mines and even precious metal futures and options. Switzerland is the biggest market for banking gold in the world.

The expenses for this account depend on the investment solution you choose:

• Portfolio investments from 0.5% to 1%
• Actively managed portfolio, from 0.7% to 1.5%
• Term deposits from 0.125% to 0.5%
• Precious metal (gold) accounts are free from expenses