French, Swiss Finance Top Charts for Boardroom Political Links

French and Swiss finance firms are more likely to have former politicians as board members than their European peers, underscoring the close links between policy making and the world of money in the two nations, an Ernst & Young study showed.

A third of financial services companies headquartered in Switzerland and 30% of firms in France have at least one board member with ministerial or parliamentary experience. That compares with just 14% of German firms, 13% of Italian firms and 11% of UK firms, according to EY’s European Financial Services Boardroom Monitor, which tracks directors across the MSCI Europe Financials ...