Credit Suisse's founder, Alfred Escher, was called "the spiritual father of the railway law of 1852," for his work defeating the idea of a state-run railway system in Switzerland in favor of privatization.
Escher founded Credit Suisse (originally called the Swiss Credit Institution, i.e., Schweizerische Kreditanstalt) jointly with Allgemeine Deutsche Credit-Anstalt in 1856 primarily to provide domestic funding to railway projects, avoiding French banks that wanted to exert influence over the railway system.
Escher aimed to start the company with three million shares and instead sold 218 million shares in three days.
The bank was modeled after Crédit Mobilier, a bank funding railway projects in France that was founded two years prior, except Credit Suisse had a more conservative lending policy focused on short-to-medium term loans.
In its first year of operation, 25 percent of the bank's revenues was from the Swiss Northeastern Railway, which was being built by Escher's company, Nordostbahn.

Credit Suisse played a substantial role in the economic development of Switzerland, helping the country develop its currency system, funding entrepreneurs and investing in the Gotthard railway, which connected Switzerland to the European rail system in 1882.
Credit Suisse helped fund the creation of Switzerland's electrical grid through its participation with Elektrobank (now called Elektrowatt), a coalition of organizations that co-financed Switzerland's electrical grid.
According to The Handbook on the History of European Banks, "Switzerland's young electricity industry came to assume the same importance as support for railway construction 40 years earlier."
The bank also helped fund the effort to disarm and imprison French troops that crossed into Swiss borders in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.
By the end of the war, Credit Suisse had become the largest bank in Switzerland.

Throughout the late 1800s, Credit Suisse set up banking and insurance companies in Germany, Brussels, Geneva and others (as SKA International) with the bank as a shareholder of each company.
It created insurance companies like Swiss RE, Swiss Life, Rentenanstalt, and Schweiz.
Credit Suisse had its first unprofitable year in 1886, due to losses in agriculture, venture investments, commodities, and international trade.
The bank created its own sugar beet factory, bought 25,000 shares in animal breeding ventures and supported an export business, Schweizerische Exportgesellschaft, that experienced heavy losses for over-speculative investing.

In the early 1900s Credit Suisse began catering to consumers and the middle-class with deposit counters, currency exchanges and savings accounts.
The first branch outside of Zürich was opened in 1905 in Basel.
The bank helped companies affected by World War I restructuring, and extended loans for reconstruction efforts.
During the 1920s depression, net profits and dividends were halved and employees took salary cuts.
After World War II, a substantial portion of Credit Suisse's business was in foreign reconstruction efforts.
Holocaust survivors had problems trying to retrieve assets from relatives that died in concentration camps without death certificates.
This led to a class action lawsuit in 1996 that settled in 2000 for $1.25 billion.
The Agreement on the Swiss Banks' Code of Conduct with Regard to the Exercise of Due Diligence was created in the 1970s, after a Credit Suisse branch in Chiasso was exposed for illegally funneling $900 million in Italian deposits to speculative investments.
Credit Suisse's founder, Alfred Escher, was called "the spiritual father of the railway law of 1852," for his work defeating the idea of a state-run railway system in Switzerland in favor of privatization. Escher founded Credit Suisse (originally called the Swiss Credit Institution, i.e., Schweizerische Kreditanstalt) jointly with Allgemeine Deutsche Credit-Anstalt in 1856 primarily to provide domestic funding to railway projects, avoiding French banks that wanted to exert influence over the railway system. Escher aimed to start the company with three million shares and instead sold 218 million shares in three days. The bank was modeled after Crédit Mobilier, a bank funding railway projects in France that was founded two years prior, except Credit Suisse had a more conservative lending policy focused on short-to-medium term loans. In its first year of operation, 25 percent of the bank's revenues was from the Swiss Northeastern Railway, which was being built by Escher's company, Nordostbahn.
Credit Suisse played a substantial role in the economic development of Switzerland, helping the country develop its currency system, funding entrepreneurs and investing in the Gotthard railway, which connected Switzerland to the European rail system in 1882. Credit Suisse helped fund the creation of Switzerland's electrical grid through its participation with Elektrobank (now called Elektrowatt), a coalition of organizations that co-financed Switzerland's electrical grid. According to The Handbook on the History of European Banks, "Switzerland's young electricity industry came to assume the same importance as support for railway construction 40 years earlier." The bank also helped fund the effort to disarm and imprison French troops that crossed into Swiss borders in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War. By the end of the war, Credit Suisse had become the largest bank in Switzerland.
Throughout the late 1800s, Credit Suisse set up banking and insurance companies in Germany, Brussels, Geneva and others (as SKA International) with the bank as a shareholder of each company. It created insurance companies like Swiss RE, Swiss Life, Rentenanstalt, and Schweiz. Credit Suisse had its first unprofitable year in 1886, due to losses in agriculture, venture investments, commodities, and international trade. The bank created its own sugar beet factory, bought 25,000 shares in animal breeding ventures and supported an export business, Schweizerische Exportgesellschaft, that experienced heavy losses for over-speculative investing.
In the early 1900s Credit Suisse began catering to consumers and the middle-class with deposit counters, currency exchanges and savings accounts. The first branch outside of Zürich was opened in 1905 in Basel. The bank helped companies affected by World War I restructuring, and extended loans for reconstruction efforts. During the 1920s depression, net profits and dividends were halved and employees took salary cuts. After World War II, a substantial portion of Credit Suisse's business was in foreign reconstruction efforts. Holocaust survivors had problems trying to retrieve assets from relatives that died in concentration camps without death certificates. This led to a class action lawsuit in 1996 that settled in 2000 for $1.25 billion. The Agreement on the Swiss Banks' Code of Conduct with Regard to the Exercise of Due Diligence was created in the 1970s, after a Credit Suisse branch in Chiasso was exposed for illegally funneling $900 million in Italian deposits to speculative investments.
Credit Suisse