Pictet, the Swiss private bank, has had its long-term credit ratings affirmed by Fitch, the rating agency.

The ratings being affirmed include Picet’s long-term issuer default rating of 'AA-' with stable outlook and its short-term IDR of 'F1+'.

The decision “reflects Pictet's strong and increasingly global franchise and reputation in international wealth management, its low on-balance sheet risk profile, the quality and relative resilience of its earnings base and its sound capital ratios”, Fitch said in a statement.

“The ratings also take into account a fiercely competitive private banking sector and a less benign outlook for the global wealth management industry, both in terms of asset performance and regulatory and political pressures,” it said.

Pictet and other Swiss banks will not be hit by the international clampdown on Swiss bank secrecy laws in the short run, Fitch said, as the industry is likely to be able to adjust to gradual changes.

“Pictet has invested heavily in its international (mostly) European on-shore capacities in recent years and has expanded its non-European client base considerably. These factors would help mitigate the impact from any adverse regulatory or political developments and, relative to smaller Swiss private banks, better position the bank,” the Fitch note continued.

Pictet, founded in Geneva in 1805, is the largest of Switzerland's 14 remaining private banks and offers private banking, asset management and custody services through presences in Switzerland and many major European countries as well as in Dubai, Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, the Bahamas and Canada.