Oct/090
Are You Worred About The Future? Swiss Banks Share Your Pain!
Ever worried about what 2010 holds in store for you?
Swiss private banks are feeling the same..according to a survey conducted by Geneve Place Financiere, a body representing Swiss financial firms.
Solitary Swiss banks feel the pain
Relaxation of bank secrecy, less enthusiastic European and US investors, and OECD bullying have contributed to a gloomier than usual outlook for next year.
“The dominant sentiment coming from this survey on the present and future of the financial centre is mitigated, even pessimistic,” said Ivan Pictet, the group’s president.
The Swiss also have reason to feel sorry for themselves - they say the financial crisis was not their doing, but the fault of larger European neighbours and the US.
”The Swiss financial centre has been the victim”, said Pictet, who is also senior partner of a large swiss private bank.
Survey participants indicated that short-term prospects would not improve in any private banking sector, but drew hope from increasing numbers of Middle-Eastern and Russian depositors.
Sep/090
UK and Switzerland Amend Double Taxation Treaty
Swiss Bank Secrecy Threatened Again - What Are the Alternatives?
Swiss and UK authorities added to an existing double taxation treaty on Thursday by agreeing to OECD standards for transparency and information exchange. It is expected that the new treaty, if and when it comes into force, will be used to help combat tax evasion.
The agreement is part of a worrying relaxation of bank secrecy in Switzerland, coming after the release of confidential account details to both France and the US. This latest agreement has the capacity to affect even those who have no relation with the UK, if the UK manages to pass on information which it has discovered about the citizens of other countries.
Since March, Switzerland has operated a new policy concerning international cooperation in tax matters, and agreed to adopt article 26 of the OECD Model Double Tax Convention.
Despite the worrying signs, there is still hope. Although the Swiss government has agreed this treaty, it must still ratified by the Swiss internally. Furthermore, laws in Switzerland are subject to a referendum and repeal with a petition of 50,000 signatures. For Swiss citizens, it must seem the benefits of keeping bank secrecy surely outweigh the disadvantages.
Even so, privacy-seekers are constantly on the lookout for alternatives which might still keep their identity confidential where a Swiss bank account fails. At the forefront of developing viable financial alternatives are offshore financial companies such as Capital Conservator - which manage to keep customer identities confidential irrespective of changes in bank secrecy.
Find out more about about confidential private banking and private bank accounts.
Aug/090
Swiss Private Bank UBS Reveals 4,450 Private Bank Accounts To IRS
The Swiss government has agreed to lift bank secrecy on 4,450 private banking accounts in order to settle a tax evasion dispute with US authorities. The accounts as Swiss Private Bank UBS had been the subject of protracted legal wranglings.
Swiss Bank Secrecy - Still Gold Standard?
The IRS had alledged that up to 52′000 wealthy Americans were dodging taxes by parking funds in secret private accounts at the bank.
The Swiss government was resistant to handing over names of account holders since tax evasion is not a crime under Swiss law. It was argued that handing over confidential records without actual evidence of a crime would break Swiss bank secrecy laws.
However, in order to prevent continuing bad press both towards the Swiss government and UBS (in which the government has a stake), the Swiss agreed to hand over a certain number of clients, allowing the American government to save face at the same time.
This agreement prevents US authorities from gaining knowledge of every US account holder, but it is expected that the largest tax-evading accounts will be among those revealed.
While media are keen to signal the agreement as an “end” to swiss bank secrecy, it is only Swiss banks with US operations that were targeted in the IRS probe. Swiss private banks without US operations are under no compulsion to hand over confidential information except with proven evidence of crime.
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