Benedikt La Roche

Benedikt La Roche was a Swiss merchant whose business became the foundation of successful banking business to present days.

On 15 October 1787 Benedikt La Roche founded a trading and freight forwarding company, laying the foundation for Basel’s oldest bank La Roche & Co Ltd. Thanks to the good transport links enjoyed by the city of Basel at the heart of Europe, the “La Roche Trading Company” soon became internationally successful and steadily built up its customer base in Switzerland and abroad. Growing demand for industrial capital during the 19th century turned the former trading firm turned more and more into a pure banking business.