In 1863, a group of industrial capitalists, merchants from Basel, and private bankers established the Basler Handelsbank. Although its initial growth was slow, it expanded rapidly from the mid-1890s. However, the bank reached its peak development in 1928. Its expansion was driven, among other factors, by the assets transferred by many foreign citizens during the interwar period. Nonetheless, in 1932, it emerged that Georges Berthoud, one of the key intermediaries in managing these assets, had mishandled the funds, leading to a loss of confidence in the Swiss banking system, which negatively impacted the Basler Handelsbank. During this time, the bank was compelled to concentrate its business activities on the German Reich. However, as German payments failed to materialise, the Swiss Banking Corporation had to intervene, leaving Basler Handelsbank in charge. In 1957, the Basler Handelsbank was converted into a financial holding company and, after facing severe economic difficulties, it was sold to Harwanne in 1991. Harwanne subsequently delisted the bank from the stock exchange in 1998 (Degen, 2002).