A close friend of our firm, Professor Dr. Othmar Strasser, former General Counsel of Zürcher Kantonalbank, will celebrate his 70th birthday on 29 March 2025. Over the course of a quarter-century at the helm of the legal department of Switzerland’s second-largest universal bank—and its most significant cantonal bank—he was instrumental in establishing the bank’s money laundering and tax compliance units. He spearheaded the transformation from case-by-case legal advice to institution-wide compliance and risk management. When he began his tenure, the legal team comprised just ten staff; by the time of his departure five years ago, it had grown to eighty.
Under Strasser’s leadership, ZKB evolved from a traditional savings and mortgage bank into a fully-fledged universal bank with international operations in several areas. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, once remarked that “banks are more dangerous than standing armies.” Indeed, when banking lawyers are mentioned, it is often in the context of the scandals they have weathered. Yet during Strasser’s 25 years at ZKB, the bank remained untainted by money laundering, antitrust violations, or manipulations of interest or currency rates. Even the tax dispute with the United States, concluded in 2018, resulted in a comparatively modest settlement. None of this was accidental. As General Counsel, Strasser was known for his unwavering stance on the delicate balance between risk and return—an approach that, unsurprisingly, did not always earn him universal popularity.
Beyond his role at ZKB, Othmar Strasser served as a judge at the Zurich Commercial Court for three decades and held a professorship at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). He has always understood that commercial courts are not courts of a particular profession, but institutions that must be guided by principles of justice and the efficient use of limited resources.
Like all distinguished members of his profession, Professor Strasser is a legal generalist—what one might call a legal fox in the spirit of Archilochus of Paros, who wrote: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” While the classical division of law into private, administrative, constitutional, and criminal branches may serve didactic ends, Strasser begins—as he always has—with the practical problems of life. Whether these are ultimately resolved through private, administrative, constitutional, or criminal law is, in his view, largely a technical matter.
Professor Strasser continues to contribute actively to contemporary legal discourse, regularly publishing on urgent issues in banking law. He is a sought-after keynote speaker at major conferences, where he is known for speaking plainly and incisively—even on sensitive topics. His legendary sense of humour—sharp, but never wounding—remains one of his greatest rhetorical tools. Since 2023, and continuing through 2028, he has served as President of the Supervisory Commission for the Swiss Banks’ Due Diligence Agreement.
We extend our warmest congratulations to Professor Strasser and wish him many more years of health, fulfillment, and continued contribution to the legal community.
