have become much more alert to tax issues, and people
seeking to bring their funds out of the reach of tax
authorities will find it increasingly difficult to open an
account in Switzerland.’
It may be too early to predict long-term conse-
quences. ‘Swiss banks will no doubt in future be even
more thorough and careful regarding the origin and the
ownership of funds entrusted to them,’ says Urs Feller.
‘By international standards, Swiss rules regarding
money laundering are considered as belonging to the
strictest regimes worldwide. Thus far, clients have not
raised other concerns than before. Privacy and confi-
dentiality remain cornerstones in a tax compliant
world.’
‘Swiss banks will no doubt in future be
even more thorough and careful
regarding the origin and the ownership
of funds entrusted to them.’
CREDIT SUISSE
So what of the news earlier this year that the US authorities had indicted former and current Credit Suisse
employees? ‘We expected proceedings against other
banks, not just UBS,’ says Adrian Dörig.
‘As far as we understand the US authorities, it seems
that they do not have indications about any wrongdo-
ing of Credit Suisse as a whole but rather of some par-
ticular transgressions of specific employees of the bank,’
comments Urs Feller. ‘The employees of the bank are
not directly regulated and supervised by the US author-
ities. Therefore, it would be easier to prosecute the bank
for failures if such failures would have been detected.
We assume the aim of the actions against Credit Suisse
employees is to demonstrate that there is no future for
bank employees in setting up questionable schemes for
the benefit of tax offenders, regardless where they do
their banking.’
‘The newspaper reports about the arrests of Credit
Suisse bankers were published in February of this year.
And also in February the IRS announced its second vol-
untary disclosure initiative to bring offshore money back
into the US tax system,’ adds Bernhard Lötscher. This, it
would seem, was no coincidence. ‘The nexus is in my
opinion quite obvious: Again, the US authorities try to
create an atmosphere encouraging tax payers to come
forward,’ continues Bernhard Lötscher. ‘The following
statement made by IRS Commissioner Douglas H.
Shulman on February 8, 2011 when officially announcing the new program illustrates this best: “We have
additional cases and banks under review. The situation
will just get worse in the months ahead for those hiding
assets and income offshore. The new disclosure initiative is the last, best chance for people to get back into
the system.” (IR-2011-14, February 8, 2011).’
INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM
Other jurisdictions have been quick to criticize
Switzerland. ‘Banking secrecy, as it was known, has
gone forever and we are now in the intermediary phase
where Switzerland (like other countries) is trying to
adjust to the new world which is to come. In this new
world, we will be talking about discretion or privacy but
probably no more about banking secrecy,’ comments
Edmond Tavernier, a partner and business law specialist
from Tavernier Tschanz. ‘In the new world of tomorrow,
Switzerland will be well placed I believe to render the
very same services that it renders today, for reasons
which have nothing to do with banking secrecy. It will
rather be the old elements of stability and efficiency, the
fact that it is a place where it is felt that things function
and are reliable and the like which will make the success
of the banking industry tomorrow, not to mention the
expertise and competence to be found in Switzerland in
this area.’
‘However, Switzerland is in competition with a num-
ber of other places and countries for the very same serv-
ices,’ continues Edmond Tavernier. ‘It is particularly true
of London, Luxembourg and the like and probably of
the US as well. In that context, it is a brutal rapport de
forces and Switzerland is constantly reminded that it is
a tiny country and that it has a number of drawbacks
(among which the fact that it has chosen not to be inte-
grated in the European Community). It is thus easy for
our competitors to single us out and to put pressure on
our leaders and government, either directly or through
the G20 or the GAFI or the like. The arguments used are
very often irritating to Swiss ears since they reveal a
world of double standards – a world in which the coun-
tries that blame Switzerland for tax evasion or banking
secrecy or for having too favorable a tax environment
for companies are those very same countries where you
find that it is easy to open bank accounts without giv-
ing the identity of the beneficial owner (as is the case in
London through trusts and similar vehicles) or where
you pay very low taxes or no taxes at all such as is the
