London mayor cautions bankers against Swiss move
London mayor Boris Johnson on Thursday invoked the threat of Swiss housing bylaws in a bid to warn bankers against the temptation of moving to Switzerland.
“I’m told there are parts of the Bern canton where a man may not urinate standing up after 10pm for fear of disturbing the neighbours,” Johnson told a reception hosted by a Japanese investment bank in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.
Switzerland’s international banking and finance sector is primarily based in Geneva, Zurich and in canton Zug.
His comments to a room full of bankers at the World Economic Forum followed reports that some hedge funds and investment bankers are deserting London for Switzerland to escape European Union regulation or avoid Britain’s super-tax on high earners and special levy on bankers’ bonuses.
Experts within Switzerland say there has been no mass influx yet. Apartment buildings in Switzerland usually have noise bylaws; some are more rigid than others.
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