The cantonal banks keep significantly more hard equity capital than they actually need to – but unlike for UBS, their capital levels go largely unnoticed. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox A bank’s size is measured by how much money it holds savers and investors and how much it lends out as mortgages and loans. At Swiss cantonal banks, these amounts – also known as total assets – have been increasing by over 3% annually. Together, the 24 cantonal banks now have total assets of CHF839 billion ($1,074 billion), even more than UBS’s Swiss business (CHF501 billion), as a new study by Zurich-based Independent Credit View (I-CV) shows. ‘Robust capital buffers’ Size can also bring risks. But for the cantonal banks, this isn’t currently a problem, say analysts. “They have robust capital buffers,” says Christian Fischer of I-CV. Indeed, the buffers are even much larger than required by law. The biggest cantonal bank, in Zurich, holds 21.2% core equity capital …