SWITZERLAND: Swiss Finance minister Hans-Rudolph says Switzerland will not abandon banking secrecy

Record ID: 560151

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: Swiss Finance minister Hans-Rudolph says Switzerland will not abandon banking secrecy
  • Date: 6th March 2009
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (MARCH 5, 2009) (REUTERS) SWISS PRESIDENT AND FINANCE MINISTER HANS-RUDOLPH MERZ ARRIVING AT THE NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SWISS PRESIDENT AND FINANCE MINISTER HANS-RUDOLPH MERZ: "It remains intact and it has to remain intact due to several factors. It protects privacy, but in no way, and I underline in no way, does it protect tax fraud." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SWISS PRESIDENT AND FINANCE MINISTER HANS-RUDOLPH MERZ: "The Federal Council is currently considering the question of the distinction made between tax evasion and tax fraud. The fact that banking secrecy is being subjected to persistent attacks, this fact is nothing new. Having said this, these attacks have been governised by the current economic crisis in the last weeks and days." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) SWISS PRESIDENT AND FINANCIAL MINISTER HANS-RUDOLPH MERZ SAYING: "I can't imagine that we would abolish banking secrecy, why? It's part of our social attitude, of our country's mentality. It's the protection of privacy, it's the protection of the private sphere. And I see no reason why we should leave the banking secrecy." END OF THE CONFERENCE VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF A UBS BANK IN GENEVA/ UBS LOGO /SIGN
  • Embargoed: 21st March 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Economic News,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5F8IN93NA1S98J7YND8D93634
  • Story Text: Swiss Finance minister Hans-Rudolph said Switzerland will not abandon banking secrecy but that the Swiss government is looking into the difference between tax evasion and tax fraud in Swiss law.
    In a news briefing in Geneva on Thursday (5 March), the Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolph Merz said that the Swiss government was not considering abolishing banking secrecy, but that it was looking into the difference between tax evasion and tax fraud in Swiss law.
    Merz, who is also currently Swiss president, a largely ceremonial role, said Swiss banking secrecy was still intact and respected privacy rather than protected fraud.

    "It remains intact and it has to remain intact due to several factors. It protects privacy, but in no way, and I underline in no way, does it protect tax fraud," he said.
    "The Federal Council is currently considering the question of the distinction made between tax evasion and tax fraud. The fact that banking secrecy is being subjected to persistent attacks, this fact is nothing new. Having said this, these attacks have been governised by the current economic crisis in the last weeks and days."
    Under Swiss law, tax fraud is a criminal offence, whereas tax evasion is not.
    The Swiss government has come under fire after allowing major bank UBS to disclose the identity of about 300 of its U.S. clients to avert criminal charges that Swiss regulators said would have put its existence at risk and hurt the economy.
    Switzerland, the world's biggest offshore financial centre, manages nearly a third of an estimated $7 trillion of offshore wealth. Bankers have warned the financial sector could shrink by up to a half without banking secrecy.
    The country's justice minister, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, has already raised the prospect of changes to the distinction between tax evasion and fraud.

    "I can't imagine that we would abolish banking secrecy, why? It's part of our social attitude, of our country's mentality. It's the protection of privacy, it's the protection of the private sphere. And I see no reason why we should leave the banking secrecy," Merz said, when asked whether this meant a crack in banking secrecy.
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