It was a remarkably blunt public warning from the top of Switzerland’s biggest bank. UBS chair Colm Kelleher declared last month that Switzerland was “losing its lustre” and had reached a “crossroads with major challenges”. As evidence, he cited fierce competition in wealth management, US tariffs that have hit pharmaceuticals and other export sectors, and a regulatory environment that he regards as increasingly out of sync with more liberal regimes. He is not alone. Severin Schwan, the chair of Basel-based pharma giant Roche, warned at a panel discussion this month that Switzerland faces a “critical” moment and should be “very worried — even paranoid” that global investment pressures and slow political decision-making threaten its competitiveness. In a country that prefers to avoid global headlines, such rebukes from pillars of its corporate establishment are a sign of how uncomfortable this year has been. For much of the postwar period, Switzerland appeared insulated from many of …