Long the preserve of a handful of large companies, private bond issues are now playing an increasingly important role in financing the Swiss economic fabric. The combined effect of the search for alternatives to traditional banking channels, the growing sophistication of investors, and a more demanding regulatory environment, has meant that this method of financing is gradually establishing itself as a fully-fledged infrastructure - flexible, disintermediated, and in the process of standardisation.

Switzerland offers particularly fertile ground for this development. At the end of 2024, private debt stood at 165% of GDP, compared with around 32% for public debt, illustrating the extensive recourse to off-market financing. In 2023, the Swiss stock exchange recorded 436 new bond issues, mostly in Swiss francs, corresponding to a total volume of CHF 116 billion of debt - the second consecutive year above the CHF 100 billion mark.