Switzerland ranked ‘global capital of bank secrecy’
Switzerland is the most secretive financial centre in the world, followed by the United States, according to the Tax Justice Network, a non-governmental organization that campaigns for greater transparency.
The Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg, Germany, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and Guernsey (in descending order) were ranked in the top ten of the NGOs Financial Secrecy IndexExternal link, published on Tuesday.
The NGO said SwitzerlandExternal link, the world’s largest centre for overseas wealth, had made several improvements to its secrecy regime in recent years, following concerted pressure from the US, the European Union and others.
But it added: “The concessions made – nearly always in response to pressure against Swiss banks, rather than against Switzerland itself – can to some degree be summarised as “white money for rich and powerful countries; black money for vulnerable and developing countries.” So, the Swiss will exchange information with rich countries if they have to, but will continue offering citizens of poorer countries the opportunity to evade their taxpaying responsibilities.”
The authors also criticized Switzerland’s ongoing aggressive pursuit of financial whistleblowers.
According to the Swiss Bankers’ Association banks in Switzerland hold CHF6.65 trillion ($6.5 trillion) in assets under management, of which 48% originated from abroad.
The index, which is published every two years, checks countries using several criteria including how much information they provide about the ownership of trusts or foundations and the degree to which they respect money-laundering rules. The analysis looked at 110 countries.
University students in Switzerland join Gaza protest wave
This content was published on
Pro-Palestinian activists occupied university buildings in Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich on Tuesday, widening the protest movement in the Alpine nation.
TradeXBank to resume full operations after Sberbank Switzerland taken off sanctions list
This content was published on
TradeXBank, the former Swiss branch of Russia’s Sberbank, will be able to resume its dollar-denominated activities from the second half of this year.
Geneva decides not to remove controversial memorials
This content was published on
The city of Geneva has presented an action plan regarding a series of controversial local statues and monuments of historical figures linked to racism, colonialism or slavery.
University of Lausanne calls for end to pro-Palestine sit-in
This content was published on
The pro-Palestinian occupation continues at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). On Monday evening, a group of students refused to agree to the deadline set by the rectorate.
Ukraine peace conference should include Russia, says Chinese ambassador
This content was published on
China supports a peace conference on the Ukraine war that would see equal participation of all parties, says Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui.
This content was published on
A majority of Swiss citizens have open attitudes towards various infertility treatments, including even egg donation, which is currently prohibited.
Reports of Swiss cyber fraud almost doubled in six months
This content was published on
The head of the new Federal Office for Cybersecurity (FOC), Florian Schütz, has presented a new strategy after just over four months in office.
Swiss court stops handover of bank employee details to US
This content was published on
Switzerland’s highest court has ruled against the transfer of details of third parties in cases of information handovers involving tax dodgers.
This content was published on
The protective veil of Swiss banking secrecy was famously dealt a fatal blow by the testimony of a handful of whistleblowers in recent years.
This content was published on
A Swiss man accused of spying on the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia’s (NRW) tax authority has confessed and named names. In a Frankfurt court on Thursday, the 54-year-old man, identified only as Daniel M., explained via his defence team that he had not acted with criminal intent. Rather his motivation was “patriotism, a desire…
This content was published on
The Alpine nation performed poorly in eight of the 15 secrecy indicators used to estimate financial secrecy. It did particularly badly in the categories of corporate transparency regulation, transparency of beneficial ownership, and efficiency of tax and financial regulation. Besides Switzerland, Hong Kong, the United States, Singapore and Cayman Islands made the top five. However,…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.