Breaking Swiss banking secrecy: a goal that will be achieved

Posted on January 14 2015

I have almost lost count of the number of times I and my fellow tax justice campaigners have been told over the last decade or so that the things that we have demanded were impossible and would never happen. Breaking Swiss banking secrecy was one of this things that it was said would never happen, which just means the following report in the FT proves yet again that we were right to ignore the naysayers:

The Swiss government has taken a further step towards dismantling its once untouchable bank secrecy laws, by unveiling draft legislation that would pave the way for automatic information exchange about offshore accounts held in Switzerland.

I do not presume that everything will flow smoothly, but the momentum is irreversible. Another win is on its way.

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3 Responses

Mark Crown says:

January 14 2015 at 9:41 pm

Well, until they invent some way for people on blogs to virtually pat each other on the back to celebrate these small steps forward, I can only congratulate those of you involved. Well Done.

The tide is turning.
MRubio says:

January 18 2015 at 6:40 pm

Mr Murphy,

One should be careful about celebrating this achievement. A large volume of untaxed assets deposited in Switzerland has simply moved on.

There is for instance considerable anecdotal and economic evidence of large inflows of Swiss assets towards the United States, with Miami and South Florida as particularly popular destinations.

The Republican majority in the United States Congress has made clear that it will not allow the Administration to sign up to any form of outbound automatic information exchange. In addition, the incorporation requirements in several states offer multiple methods for beneficial owners to conceal their identities.

In short, depositors who have re-located assets to the United States will not, for the foreseeable future be subject to any sort of international disclosure. And with the United States fully immune to any international pressure, there is no scenario under which this situation would change.
- Richard Murphy says:
  
  January 18 2015 at 7:07 pm
  
  I accept thus is an issue
  
  Now doubt you celebrate it
  
  You have had your say
  
  Don’t expect to keep doing so
  
  As I have noted elsewhere, just about every comment you have ever made here have been proved to be wrong with the passing of time