Pierin Vincenz, CEO of the Swiss Raiffeisen bank, is the first Swiss banker to call for automatic tax information exchange. For those who read German there is more here.
In an op-ed in the most recent edition of Sonntagszeitung, one of the major Swiss Sunday papers, Vincenz asks the Swiss government to immediately start negotiations with the EU about full automatic exchange of information in tax matters.
In an interview in today's edition of Tagesanzeiger, Vincenz repeats this important demand.
Members of the Socialist Party and the Green Party have welcomed Vincenz' statement. Representatives of the center and right-wing parties call it 'premature' and 'unwarranted'.
It's that word 'premature' that's interesting: the inevitability of automatic information exchange is accepted in that one word. And inevitable it is.
Even some Swiss are now seeing this.
Hat tip: Mark Herkenrath
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Not so surprising perhaps, as although it is one of Switzerland’s bigger banks, the Raiffeisen (like other institutions bearing the name of that co-op banking pioneer) is a co-operative, a co-operative of co-operatives owned by their customers.
Also worth mentioning that Raiffeisen has just bought Notenstein Privatbank AG from Bank Wagelin, or effectively most of the non-US customers of Bank Wegelin. As it has no US customers in its newly acquired private bank, Raiffeisen has every interest in destabilising the rest of the Swiss banking community.
Excellent
Long may it do so
Richard
Raiffeisen banks probably have a total of 3 non-resident customers. Therefore their call for automatic exchange of info is more self-serving than anything else, as it is a statement aimed at domestic consumption which won’t affect their banking business. File this under “non event”.
Don’t agree
Or it would not have caused the reaction it did
Richard,
Of course there will be a violent reaction from other Swiss banks to Raiffeisen’s call for dropping secrecy. What I’m saying is it will only be worth noting if a bank that depends on secrecy says the same.. Wake me up when say, Pictet, Lombard Odier, Credit Suisse says the same.