Merz says banking secrecy concessions possible
Switzerland will not give up its banking secrecy laws, but some concessions may need to be made to appease objectors, Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz has said.
Banking secrecy is anchored in Swiss law but "we need to accept discussion on it and make a few concessions", Merz told a conference marking the creation of the new Radicals-Liberals political party on Saturday in Bern.
Failure to open debate on the issue could result in Switzerland being blacklisted as an uncooperative tax haven by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, he said, which in turn would lead to sanctions against banks and serious consequences for the financial sector.
Banking secrecy also came under criticism from Oswald Grübel, the new head of Switzerland's largest bank, UBS.
Swiss banking secrecy laws need to be changed in order to ease the political pressure from other countries, Grübel said in an interview published in the Finanz und Wirtschaft newspaper on Saturday.
"It's questionable whether we can continue to hide tax evaders behind banking secrecy," said Grübel, who replaced UBS former chief executive officer Marcel Rohner on Thursday.
Grübel added that other countries were using the issue of banking secrecy to attack Switzerland's position as a leading centre for wealth management, in order to force billions of dollars back into their own financial centres.
UBS is currently the subject of a probe by US authorities into whether it helped wealthy Americans illegally evade $200 billion (SFr234 billion) in taxes. Earlier this month, the bank was forced to pay $780 million in fines and handed over the names of around 300 suspected tax fraudsters to the US.
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Why should this friendly professional east german born, gentleman, tell the Swiss what to do, with their laws, when his bank, made the mistake. To me this is no solution, and Im sorry and disappointed, that there was no Swiss born Banking leader to take his job. I know UBS, and they have many fine people.
This is the beginning of the end for Switzerland. I find it astonishing that the Swiss don't even understand what the long term consequences of these decisions are. As I am in the banking industry, I fully understand what is about to happen and as a result, I'm in the process of leaving Switzerland. The Swiss banking secrecy is already weaker than Austria, Delaware, Luxembourg, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Panama, Seychelles, Mauritius .. the list goes on and on.
Charging a premium for Swiss financial services (as is currently the case) will not be sustainable. Switzerland appears to simply have chosen not to compete in the international market of financial services. Customers are now waking up to this fact and they are choosing to shift their assets to dependable, reliable and cost efficient jurisdictions. It was a nice time while it lasted..
So if the entrenched law of Banking secrecy can be changed then why not change Swiss military service, change the laws on non Swiss buying property, free movement of people, scrap Permits who needs to report where you live, get rid of compulsory health care as is must be against some EU or USA rule and while you at it why does the Swiss Parliament not just bend for the USA and EU. Move all law making to the EU and USA just do as they say. How weak we, Swiss are becoming we are losing our identity and integrity.