The #metoo movement has put top executives on notice. Has the movement led to changes in Switzerland's notoriously male-dominated banking industry? finews.asia investigates.

The movement known under the hashtag #metoo has rattled almost every industry, but it doesn't look like much has changed at Swiss banks. «I haven't heard that #metoo is  an issue with Swiss banks,» Denise Chervet, who is head of a Swiss bank employee group, told finews.asia.

Bank staff in Switzerland are reluctant to report cases of harassment or mobbing for fear of losing their job or endangering their career, Chervet said. Besides the coziness of Switzerland's almost exclusively white male finance scene, Swiss law doesn't offer much protection for those who report bad workplace behavior. And unlike the U.K. or U.S., there is little legal recourse for Swiss employees looking to recoup damages.

«Not Worried At All»

According to Chervet «employers aren't at all worried» about cases popping up. While major banks like UBS and Credit Suisse have notification hotlines for employees subjected to harassment, but these existed even before the #metoo movement surfaced. The larger problem is with smaller, often privately held opaque banks: «They are less open to addressing the topic of sexual harassment.»

This view is confirmed byKamales Lardi. The digital consultant and owner of Lardi & Partner in Switzerland said she doesn't have the feeling that financial firms are addressing #metoo proactively. «However, some banks and other companies have raised the topic in response to incidences or concerns among employees, or addressed the topic as part of internal diversity and inclusion initiatives.»

The bottom line is, nothing much has changed as a result of more than a year of revelations that have toppled film mogul Harvey Weinstein and a host of well-known businessmen including Uber founder Travis Kalanick.

Fear and Mistrust

Instead, Wall Streeters are resorting to not conducting meetings with women in windowless rooms, not dining alone with women, or refraining from mentoring female colleagues, «Bloomberg» reported last week.