🇨🇭CIM Banque: Swiss bank for international capital

Concept

CIM Banque SA is a Swiss bank founded in Geneva in 1990. FINMA lists it as an authorised bank, while its current service set spans private and corporate banking, 25-currency accounts, international payments, market access and Lombard lending. For a cross-border client it is a smaller Swiss booking platform, distinct from the full family-office and bespoke-mandate model of the largest private banks. Readings of the bank's name and its links to other Swiss groups diverge across open sources and are not worth relying on: what counts is the licence, the supervisor and the actual service set, and the licence is checked in the FINMA register of authorised institutions.

Key parameters of the bank:

History and market position

CIM Banque was founded in Geneva in 1990, opened its Lugano office in 2000, became a SIX Swiss Exchange member in 2011 and opened in Wollerau in 2015. Its own materials position the bank around international private and corporate banking supported by multilingual relationship teams and digital access.

Regulation

• FINMA is the Swiss financial-market supervisor and lists CIM BANQUE SA as a bank;
• esisuisse lists CIM among its members and protects eligible cash deposits up to CHF 100,000 per client and bank;
• the bank's published offer covers private and corporate accounts, payments, foreign exchange, securities trading, custody and secured lending.

The CHF 100,000 limit concerns protected deposits. It is not portfolio insurance: market losses remain with the client, while the treatment of custody assets follows the account agreement and Swiss insolvency rules. FINMA explains that ordinary custody-account assets such as shares and fund units belong to the client, are segregated from the bankruptcy estate and are returned; contractual liens, set-off rights or securities-lending arrangements still require separate agreement review.

For whom

• an international private client who needs one Swiss account across several currencies, payments and a liquid portfolio;
• a non-resident with a documented source of wealth and a clear economic reason for Swiss banking;
• a company whose international payments, foreign exchange or trade-finance needs fit the bank's risk appetite;
• an investor who may need custody, market access or a Lombard facility against acceptable collateral.

What it offers

• one account with 25 available currencies and transfers to more than 120 countries;
• online trading in equities, bonds, funds, derivatives and foreign exchange;
• foreign-exchange conversion, cards, E-Banking and international transfers;
• Lombard credit secured by a liquid, diversified portfolio, subject to the bank's collateral assessment;
• corporate accounts, trade services and guarantees as well as private-banking services.

The published offer is broader than a personal investment account, but it does not by itself establish that every operating-company flow or jurisdiction will pass onboarding.

Minimum thresholds

CIM Banque does not publish one universal minimum balance for every client profile: the threshold and the commercial terms are named only by the bank itself, on request. Its online application currently shows an opening fee of CHF, EUR or USD 90 for a personal account and 500 for a corporate account; those fees are not minimum deposits, and the bank changes them without separate notice, so the figure is read off the application page itself. Approval and commercial terms still depend on residence, source of wealth, expected activity, currencies and requested services.

What is important to understand

• deposit protection and custody are different protections: the CHF 100,000 cap applies to eligible cash deposits, not market performance;
• a published product does not mean automatic eligibility: residence, beneficial ownership, source of wealth, counterparties and expected flows remain part of KYC, and the bank does not publish its risk appetite by country, counterparty or volume — whether a given operating company passes does not follow in advance from any open source;
• the bank does offer corporate banking and trade services, but the proposed activity must still fit its risk appetite;
• a Lombard facility preserves the invested portfolio but adds collateral and market risk, so its limit is client- and asset-specific.

Where CIM Banque is suitable

• a second Swiss banking relationship for currency diversification and a liquid investment portfolio;
• a cross-border private client who values digital access, international transfers and market execution in one institution;
• a company with explainable international payments, foreign exchange or trade-finance needs that the bank accepts;
• a portfolio owner seeking a secured credit line without selling acceptable assets.

Where it may not fit

• a family requiring a full family office, bespoke alternatives and a large dedicated advisory team;
• a business whose payment geography, counterparties or transaction volume fall outside the bank's risk appetite;
• a client relying on undocumented wealth, opaque intermediaries or unexplained third-party transfers;
• a borrower who cannot tolerate collateral revaluation or a reduction in the available Lombard limit.

Account opening and compliance

CIM offers an online application for personal and corporate accounts, but the application is not an approval. A coherent file connects residence, tax status, beneficial ownership, source of wealth, source of funds, expected counterparties, countries, currencies and transaction volumes. The bank may request additional evidence or decline a profile even when the opening fee has been paid.