Word: switzerland
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
What makes this last stand of Swiss banking secrecy particularly intriguing is the clash between morality and money, as well as the underlying geopolitics. On the one hand, many Swiss see secrecy as a cornerstone of the nation?s prosperity, something that gives Switzerland an edge in the competition among global financial centers. The Swiss are world leaders in managing cross-border private wealth, holding more than a quarter of the total assets parked by residents of one country in another. (Use the word offshore to a Swiss banker and you?re liable to get a half-hour lecture...
...judge from the reaction in Switzerland, complying with the demand would be like giving away the Alps. "We won?t allow ourselves to be crushed by the weight of the E.U.," says Hans Kaufmann, a former bank economist and the Swiss member of the parliament spearheading a move to add banking secrecy to the constitution as a fundamental right. The proposal by his Swiss People?s Party is now working its way through parliamentary committees, but already it has won significant support. Two cantons, Zurich and Aargau, have voted to back the initiative, and several other cantons are considering throwing...
...issue Switzerland has remained unyielding: tax evasion by nonresidents. If a German dentist or a French entrepreneur has an account in Zurich or Geneva and doesn?t declare the interest back home, the Swiss say that?s not their problem. It?s an attitude that has long infuriated Switzerland?s neighbors. Now it is hurtling the country toward a head-on collision with the European Union that threatens to frustrate efforts to improve Switzerland?s international image?and could spell the end of its fabled banking secrecy once...
...work, that aims to curb tax evasion through an exchange of tax information among member states. Prompted by Luxembourg and Austria?two tax havens within the E.U. that are particularly concerned about a flight of capital from their banks?Brussels is asking the Swiss to help out. It wants Switzerland, which is not an E.U. member, to automatically provide information to tax authorities about bank accounts held by E.U. residents...
...other hand, despite the recent cleanup efforts, the continuing adherence to secrecy leaves Switzerland vulnerable to the accusation that it has something to hide?a charge that makes the Swiss cringe. And despite a historic reflex dating back to William Tell to thumb their noses at the outside world, the Swiss realize they need to maintain good relations with the E.U., which completely surrounds them and accounts for about two-thirds of their trade. "It?s not in our long-term interest to profit from any loopholes," says Urs P. Roth, chief executive of the Swiss Bankers? Association, who nonetheless...