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.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
OECD: Sluggish economic activity slowing growth in Switzerland
This content was published on
Sluggish economic activity at the start of the year is weighing on growth in Switzerland, with GDP expected to fall to 1.1% in 2024.
Report finds mistakes which led to Swiss government data breach
This content was published on
Mistakes were made by both the government and internet company Xplain in the case of a criminal cyber-attack on the Bern-based IT business.
Swiss government wants better gender balance in federal administration
This content was published on
New Swiss government personnel management targets say there must be even more female managers in the federal administration.
Swiss national science foundation funded over 5,000 projects in 2023
This content was published on
In 2023, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provided a total of CHF961 million worth of funding towards research projects.
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.