23 April 2013

Swissinfo: Clock ticks on Swiss banking secrecy

The foreign assault against Swiss banking secrecy continues – after the EU and the US, the G20 has now joined the throng. Switzerland is becoming ever more isolated after Luxembourg dropped its opposition to sharing bank data with its partners.

In an opinion piece published by the French newspaper Le Monde on April 10, Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf defended Switzerland’s so-called clean money strategy, outlining the measures taken by the government to fight tax evasion. She pointed out that when Switzerland undertook reforms, it expected the international community to take note of the efforts made without launching another attack against the Swiss or threatening to take further retaliation measures. The same day, her hopes were doused when Luxembourg announced it would lift bank secrecy rules for European Union citizens who have savings based in the country from 2015 onwards.

Austria, the only other staunch defender of banking secrecy within the EU, is also hinting it is ready to negotiate with Brussels. This sharp shift of policy by Luxembourg and Austria could leave Switzerland even more exposed to renewed attacks by the EU. So far, the three countries had mutually protected each other.

Luxembourg and Austria had previously stated that banking secrecy was not negotiable unless the Swiss did the same. Bern had also rejected pressure from the EU, saying that Brussels had to convince the two other nations first. This tactic worked for years and the European Commission’s pressure failed to yield tangible results. The potential breakthrough came from the United States, with Switzerland, Luxembourg and Austria expected to ratify the FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) accord in the coming months.

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