With support from its founders—the Swiss banking industry, the Swiss Confederation, and leading Swiss universities—SFI fosters world-class research and teaching in banking and finance in Switzerland. As a result, SFI has become one of the world's top 10 research institutions in banking and finance. By combining this academic excellence with practical experience SFI contributes to the strengthening of the Swiss financial center.

Swiss universities are publicly funded and are subject to constraints that make it hard for them to compete in the international academic market for world-class researchers in banking and finance. SFI helps them overcome this structural disadvantage. The criteria for this support are aligned with internationally recognized standards for evaluating academic excellence, similar to those applied by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the European Research Council. SFI's governance framework upholds the highest ethical standards, safeguarding the independence of the research and teaching conducted at its partner universities and by its faculty members. Strict adherence to these principles is essential for maintaining SFI's position as a global leader in academia, and is a core priority of the Institute.

In addition to advancing research and education in banking and finance, SFI is dedicated to facilitating active knowledge exchange between its faculty and the Swiss financial industry. Through initiatives such as continuing education activities, contributions to public discussion, and the organization of conferences, SFI enables its researchers to share their expertise with experienced professionals, while practitioners can offer valuable insights that shape future research.

SFI's activities are dedicated solely to enhancing Switzerland's competitiveness as a hub for banking and finance research and education that fosters the exchange of knowledge between SFI faculty members and the Swiss financial industry. In doing so, SFI generates a vital resource: knowledge capital that helps the Swiss financial sector to position itself as a leading competence center in the global financial industry.
 

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