Fears that an Italian tax amnesty would lead to a mass exodus of money from banks in canton Ticino have so far proved unfounded.

Limited impact

Publicly, the Swiss banks are not panicking. They say the impact of the amnesty on business has been minimal. The Banco di Lugano says it has lost barely 1.7 per cent of its capital, while the Banca del Gottardo puts the figure at three per cent.

Christoph Meier, a spokesman for UBS, said the impact on his bank had so far been "limited".

He told swissinfo that less than ten per cent of UBS's Italian clients had enquired about the amnesty, and far fewer had actually taken action. But of those that had decided to take advantage of it, half had been persuaded to move their money to UBS branches in Italy.

A similar policy is being pursued by other Swiss banks - such as the Banca del Gottardo and Credit Suisse - which have a foothold in Italy.

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