In recent years, the Swiss financial sector has been under increasing international pressure to bend its bank secrecy laws. Can and should Switzerland do more to defend its bank secrecy? If so, at what cost?
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The Swiss bank secrecy law, in force since 1934, concerns the protection of bank customers’ private information. Swiss banks have profited from the law reaping billions in foreign un-taxed assets.
In recent years, those profits became problems for the Swiss banking sector as the United States and several European countries lined up to protest and recoup tax money lost in Swiss bank accounts. Are those foreign attacks justified, or are they just intended to weaken the Swiss financial sector?
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Switzerland pays the price for banking secrecy
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“Today I met several bankers in Zurich. They were all shaking their heads saying, ‘In 40 years of operations we’ve never had a crisis like this one – a war like the one being waged against the Swiss banking system. We’re in the artillery sights of every country and every day there are new attacks’,” recounted Paolo…
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“The treaty with Germany is much like a blueprint. It could open doors to other countries. If it comes into force I could imagine that Italy would also sign such a treaty,” Peter V Kunz, professor of economic law at Bern University, told swissinfo.ch. “That in turn could awaken interest from France.” Switzerland has already…
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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.
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Switzerland pays the price for banking secrecy
This content was published on
“Today I met several bankers in Zurich. They were all shaking their heads saying, ‘In 40 years of operations we’ve never had a crisis like this one – a war like the one being waged against the Swiss banking system. We’re in the artillery sights of every country and every day there are new attacks’,” recounted Paolo…
This content was published on
“The treaty with Germany is much like a blueprint. It could open doors to other countries. If it comes into force I could imagine that Italy would also sign such a treaty,” Peter V Kunz, professor of economic law at Bern University, told swissinfo.ch. “That in turn could awaken interest from France.” Switzerland has already…
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Hanspeter Thür has written to several banks to determine what data has already been transferred to the US Department of Justice and how they justified including telephone numbers and written correspondence. “We have informed them that we are opening an analysis to verify the legality of the data transmitted to the US,” Thür told the…
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His journey takes us to the heart of a $7,000 billion secret. The Swiss hold a third of all global offshore assets, shored up by conservatism and strict banking secrecy laws. With half of this market, just two banks – UBS and Credit Suisse – dominate the heart of the banking sector.
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.