Word: switzerland
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...first round of talks on the issue in June, the Swiss told the E.U. that an information exchange was out of the question, and offered an alternative proposal. While unwilling to pass on bank account details, Switzerland would be prepared to levy a withholding tax on the bank accounts of E.U. residents. This would safeguard client privacy, but still provide European treasuries with tax revenue. "We think it?s a most unique offer," says Gregor Kündig, an executive member of the national industry federation Economiesuisse who deals with E.U. issues. "It has never happened in history that...
...talks resumed on Sept. 3 after a summer recess, but a war of words was heating up before that date. German Finance Minister Hans Eichel publicly reprimanded Switzerland at the E.U.?s Seville summit in June, saying it was unacceptable for any nation to make a living as "a safe haven for tax evaders." A British treasury minister, Paul Boateng, has attacked Swiss banking secrecy as an obstacle to fighting terrorism. And E.U. officials say privately that they expect pressure on Switzerland to build this fall as more politicians direct the spotlight toward Swiss morals. "The Swiss will inevitably...
...head of Peruvian intelligence, had stashed away about $114 million in five Swiss accounts. Judicial authorities in Zurich blocked the accounts after the banks themselves reported their suspicions. The Swiss ambassador in Lima then informed the Peruvian government and urged it to open an international criminal investigation, with which Switzerland cooperated. In addition, it was fierce international pressure that led the Swiss to disclose information about thousands of dormant accounts belonging to victims of the Nazis?and to pay $1.25 billion in 2000 to settle class actions relating to those accounts...
...anomaly of tax havens within the E.U. Germany in the 1990s saw how damaging capital flight could be when it instituted a special withholding tax on savings to pay for reunification, sparking an exodus of billions of marks to neighboring Luxembourg. Tax evasion is not a criminal offense in Switzerland, and the Swiss say they have good systems for preventing it at home: they levy a hefty 35% withholding tax on dividend and interest income for their own citizens...
...heeled clients. Swiss banks have also borne the brunt of a successful tax amnesty mounted earlier this year by Giulio Tremonti, Italy?s Finance Minister. Italians repatriated assets valued at j52 billion, paying a symbolic 2.5% fine in exchange for immunity. Much of the total was pulled out of Switzerland; j10.6 billion came from just one Swiss bank, UBS (although the bank says almost half of that money was moved to branches it has opened in Italy...