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First Commercial Trust (firstcommercialtrust.com) looks like a Swiss private bank. It speaks of fiduciary custody, a sovereign private ledger and a strict 1:1 reserve ratio, with live forex, index, gold and Bitcoin prices scrolling across the top. Its banner says “since 1889”. Switzerland’s regulator FINMA put it on its warning list on 30 October 2026.

What fake banks are for

Sites like this rarely find customers by themselves. They are the second stage of another scam. A trading platform, an online partner or a “recovery agent” tells you your funds have been moved to a secure Swiss custody account. You log in and see your balance. To release it, you are asked to pay a fee, a tax or a compliance charge. The balance was never there.

FINMA keeps a public list of every bank it authorises. First Commercial Trust is not on it. It is on the warning list instead, alongside its prestigious Bahnhofstrasse address.

• Check any Swiss bank on FINMA’s list of authorised institutions.
• Never pay a fee to move money out of a bank you were sent to.
• If you already paid, tell your own bank now.

Sources: FINMA warning list, First Commercial Trust (30 October 2026); firstcommercialtrust.com (checked 30 October 2026); RDAP record. General information only.

A ticker full of ratios

A bank founded in 1889 that registered its website seven weeks ago. The capital ratios and liquidity figures on the front page are the kind of numbers real banks publish in audited reports. Here they sit in a ticker next to the price of gold, with nothing behind them.