Banking in Switzerland
Banking in Switzerland dates to the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland. The country has a long history of banking secrecy and client confidentiality reaching back to the early 1700s. Starting as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934 with the passage of a landmark federal law, the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks. These laws, which were used to protect assets of persons being persecuted by Nazi authorities, have also been used by people and institutions seeking to illegally evade taxes, hide assets, or generally commit financial crime.
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Controversial protection of foreign accounts and assets during
Banking secrecy remains in force for all residing in and taxable in Switzerland only.[5]
Disclosing client information has been considered a criminal offence since the early 1900s. Employees working in Switzerland and abroad at Swiss banks "have long adhered to an unwritten code similar to that observed by doctors or priests".[6] Since 1934, banking secrecy laws have been violated at least by four people: Christoph Meili (1997), Bradley Birkenfeld (2007), Rudolf Elmer (2011), and Hervé Falciani (2014). As stated, banking secrecy has been de facto abolished for non-Swiss residents holding bank accounts since Swiss banks began practicing the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) with foreign governments and revenue services since 2017.
The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) estimated in 2018 that Swiss banks held US$6.5 trillion in assets or 25% of all global cross-border assets. Switzerland's main lingual hubs, Geneva (for French), Lugano (for Italian), and Zürich (for German) service the different geographical markets. It currently ranks number two behind the United States and on par with Singapore in the Financial Secrecy Index.[7] The banks are regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) which derives its authority from a series of federal statutes. Banking in Switzerland has historically played, and still continues to play, a dominant role in the Swiss economy and society. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), total banking assets amount to 467% of total gross domestic product.[7] Banking in Switzerland has been portrayed, with varying degrees of accuracy, in overall popular culture and television shows.
History
Bank secrecy in the Swiss region can be traced[7] to the Great Council of Geneva, which outlawed the disclosure of information about the European upper class in 1713.[7] During the 1780s, Swiss bank accounts began insuring deposits, which contributed to their reputation for financial security.[7] In 1815, the Congress of Vienna formally established Switzerland's international neutrality, which led to a large capital influx.[7] The wealthy, landlocked Switzerland saw banking secrecy as a way to build an empire similar to that of France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.[7] Swiss historian Sébastian Guex notes in The Origins of Secret Swiss Bank Accounts:
This is what the Swiss bourgeoisie are thinking: "That's our future. We will play on the contradictions between the European powers and, protected by the shield of our neutrality, our arm will be industry and finance."[8]
After a small scale civil war in the 1840s between the Swiss cantons, the Swiss Federation was founded in 1848.[7] The formation of the state, through a direct democracy, contributed to the political stability needed for banking secrecy.[7] The mountainous terrain of Switzerland provided a natural environment in which to excavate underground vaults for storage of gold and diamonds.[7] In the 1910s, during World War I, Swiss bankers traveled to France to advertise the country's banking secrecy.[7] The war's contribution to political and economic instability sparked a rapid capital movement into Switzerland.[7] As European countries began to increase taxes to finance the war, wealthy clients moved their holdings into Swiss accounts to avoid taxation.[7] The French banked in Geneva, the Italians in Lugano, and the Germans in Zürich.[7]
The
During
World War II and beyond
After the end of World War II, Switzerland and its financial system benefited greatly from having remained unharmed while all the neighbouring economies were devastated, but had to face the reputational damage from its support to the Axis powers, which also led to threats to banking secrecy as the Allied victors sought to expropriate Nazi assets held under Swiss custody. By and large, the Swiss banking sector was able to successfully deflect the threat to its secrecy practices, not least as it supported France and the United Kingdom with significant lending.[10] When British politician George Brown blamed "gnomes of Zurich" for a weak pound sterling in 1964, Swiss bankers began using the title as proof of their financial skill and adherence to secrecy.[15] Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, numerous international proposals for bank secrecy rollbacks were made by foreign states with little success.[9]
After the
If there is anything the Swiss take more seriously than the precision of their watches or the quality of their chocolate, it's the secrecy of their banks.
Steve Kroft, host of Banking: A Crack In the Swiss Vault[19]
In November 2013, the
In March 2015, the Swiss government entered into bilateral "Rubik Agreements" with Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom allowing foreign holders of Swiss bank accounts to retain their anonymity in exchange for paying predetermined back taxes.[23] Switzerland adopted the International Convention on the Automatic Exchange of Banking Information (AEOI) in 2017, agreeing to automatically release limited financial information to certain countries for the sole purpose of tax auditing.[24] This agreement includes the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) which obliges Swiss banks to automatically send foreign tax authorities the client's name, address, domicile, tax number, date of birth, account number, account balance at years end, and the gross investment income.[25] The CRS does not, however, override the Swiss Banking Law of 1934, so the client's expenses (withdrawals) and investments are not disclosed.[22] Thus tax authorities cannot "go fishing" for tax evaders, they must directly link a financial crime to the client's account.[22] The disclosed information can only be used for tax auditing and Swiss authorities may prevent disclosure.[26]
In December 2017, the Swiss parliament launched a standing initiative and expressed an interest in formally embedding banking secrecy within the Swiss Constitution, making it a federally-protected constitutional right.[27][28] In January 2018, a U.S. district court ruled that Swiss bankers "[have] nothing to do with the choice that an American taxpayer makes to not declare offshore assets", later clarifying they should not be seen as facilitating tax evasion but rather provide a legal service that is made illegal by the client.[29] The Swiss Justice Ministry announced in March 2018 that disclosure of client information in a pending court case involving a Swiss bank is subject to federal espionage and extortion charges in addition to charges relating to banking secrecy laws.[30]
Banking and the Swiss economy
Switzerland is a prosperous nation with a
Banking has played a dominant role in the Swiss economy for two centuries.[7] According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), total banking assets amount to 467% of total gross domestic product.[7]
Swiss banks managed $2.4 trillion (CHF2.1 trillion) of assets belonging to wealthy foreigners in 2022, more than any other country and before Hong Kong ($2.2T) or Singapore ($1.5T) who are ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively, according to the study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group.[34]
Origin of funds
Most of the wealth from overseas in Switzerland originates in
Regulation
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is a public law institution that supervises most banking-related activities as well as securities markets and investment funds.[37] Regulatory authority is derived from the Swiss Financial Market Supervision Act (FINMASA) and Article 98 of the Swiss Federal Constitution. The office of the Swiss Banking Ombudsman, founded in 1993, is sponsored by the Swiss Banking Ombudsman Foundation, which was established by the Swiss Bankers Association. The ombudsman's services, which are offered free of charge, include mediation and assistance to persons searching for dormant assets. The ombudsman handles about 1,500 complaints raised against banks yearly.[38] Generally speaking, lawyers will not work against the banks and regulators are "too weak" to act in case of a problem, according to the Financial Times of London.[39]
Automatic exchange of tax information
In February 2013, the
In July 2019, the
Starting in 2019, Switzerland began to share (with the country of origin or residence) the details of 3.1 million bank accounts held by foreigners, as part of the agreed automatic exchange of information.[42][43] Swiss banks, insurance companies and trusts have a legal obligation to comply but charitable Swiss foundations are so far exempt.[42][44] As of 2019, Switzerland received financial data from 75 countries and shared data with 63 (over 100 countries starting in 2023) representing 3.6 million accounts as of 2023. Around 9000 banks, insurers, trusts and other financial institutions in Switzerland provide this information to the Swiss authorities.[45][46][47][48]
Loopholes
Swiss banks are obliged to reject or terminate business relationships if there are doubts about the real identity of the owner of the account.
Similarly, the use of a "straw man" or a family member is a way also to hide the true beneficial ownership in some cases.[52]
Loopholes exist also with people with multiple nationalities who only declare one citizenship to the authorities for the purpose of tax reporting.[53]
Another loophole consists (for US citizens) in setting up
The banking systems of Switzerland and
To improve the tracking down and freezing of assets, Swiss NGO
Enabling industry
The
Under the
According to the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland in 2017, official "suspicious activity reports" reached nearly 4,700 (worth $16.2 billion) up from 2,909 reported cases in 2016.[63]
The Swiss Financial Services Act of 2020 (FinSA) requires
Assets seizure
Under current rules, banking institutions and cantonal authorities can only report what is in their registers; looking into the origins of assets or connections between individuals is not permitted.
Swiss authorities can freeze assets if the law requires them to. However, seizing assets is only permitted in cases involving crime or for destituted potentates.[66][67]
At least a dozen destitute autocrats have had their assets frozen or seized by the
Protections
Breaches of banking secrecy laws in Switzerland are automatically processed pursuant to
Major banks
As of 2018[update], there are more than 400 securities dealers and banking institutions in Switzerland, ranging from the "Two Big Banks" down to small banks serving the needs of a single community or a few special clients.[73] The largest and second largest Swiss banks are UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG, respectively. They account for over 50% of all deposits in Switzerland; each has extensive branch networks throughout the country and most international centers. Due to their size and complexity, UBS and Credit Suisse are subject to an extra degree of supervision from the Federal Banking Commission.[74]
As of 2023[update] only one in five Swiss people banks with either UBS or Credit Suisse, but most Swiss prefer one or the other. Credit Suisse was historically the bank of Protestant Zürich; UBS originated in Catholic Basel, near France.[75]
Swiss National Bank
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) serves as the country's central bank. Founded by the Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank (16 January 1906), it began conducting business on 20 June 1907. Its shares are publicly traded, and are held by the cantons, cantonal banks, and individual investors; the federal government does not hold any shares.[76] Although a central bank often has regulatory authority over the country's banking system, the SNB does not; regulation is solely the role of the Federal Banking Commission.[77]
UBS
UBS Group AG came into existence in June 1998, when
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group was the second-largest Swiss bank.
Private banks
The term private bank refers to a bank that offers private banking services and in its legal form is a partnership.[89] The first private banks were created in St. Gallen in the mid-18th century and in Geneva in the late 18th century as partnerships, and some are still in the hands of the original families such as Hottinger and Mirabaud.[89] In Switzerland, such private banks are called "private bankers" (in the local languages, a protected term) to distinguish them from the other private banks which are typically shared corporations.[89] Historically in Switzerland a minimum of CHF1 million was required to open an account, however, over the last years many private banks have lowered their entry hurdles to CHF250,000 for private investors.[89]
Cantonal banks
There are, as of 2006, 24 cantonal banks; these banks are state-guaranteed semi-governmental organizations controlled by one of Switzerland's 26 cantons that engage in all banking businesses.[90] Together the cantonal banks account for about 30% of the banking sector in Switzerland, with a network of over 800 branches and 16 000 employees in Switzerland. In 2014 consolidated total assets of all cantonal banks accounted around 500 bln CHF, which is comparable with those of one the "Big Banks", UBS and Credit Suisse.[91] The largest cantonal bank, the Zurich Cantonal Bank, has approximately 5 000 employees had a 2005 net income of CHF810 million.[92]
Controversies
Banking secrecy
[Banking secrecy] is comparable to medical confidentiality ... [Switzerland] must absolutely respect the private sphere ... [no one should] know what there is in your bank account.
Ueli Maurer, former President of Switzerland in 2013[93]
Switzerland, considered the "grandfather of bank secrecy", has been one of the largest
Secrecy laws have been violated by four people since 1934:
As of 2015, Swiss banking secrecy was considered "dead" because of FATCA, but according to the Tax Justice Network in 2018, these schemes are "full of loopholes and shortcomings" which can still be exploited by lawyers to hide the assets of their clients.[96][97] Besides, some autocratic or developing countries don't have any automatic exchange of tax information with Switzerland.
In 2022, the
Freedom of the press
Since leaking financial data is a criminal offense in Switzerland (even if it is in the public interest)
Bank vaults and bunkers
A handful of larger Swiss banks operate undisclosed or otherwise secretive
Numbered bank accounts
Many banks in Switzerland offer clients numbered bank accounts, accounts where the identity of the holder is replaced with a multi-digit number known only to the client and select private bankers.[107][108] Although these accounts do add another layer of banking secrecy, they are not completely anonymous as the name of the client is still recorded by the bank and subject to limited, warranted disclosure.[107] Some Swiss banks supplement the number with a code name such as "Cardinal",[29] "Octopussy"[109] or "Cello"[109] that provide an alternative means of identifying the client.[110] However, to open this type of account in Switzerland, clients must pass a multi-stage clearance procedure and prove to the bank the lawful origins of their assets.[111]
Connection to illegal activities
Historically, mobster
Swiss banks have been commonly identified as holding ill-gotten Nazi gold.[118] The Swiss National Bank, the largest gold distribution centre in continental Europe before the war, was the logical venue through which Nazi Germany could dispose of its gold.[119]
According to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's office and
Switzerland finally released a total of $683 million in Marcos funds to the Philippines Treasury in 2004.[125][126]
According to Haitian authorities,
In 2013, the
Over the past 20 years, Switzerland has returned about $2 billion of ill-gotten money in at least ten cases, including to Tunisia, Egypt, Brazil, Nigeria, Malaysia and Uzbekistan (2022).[131] Swiss bank accounts were utilised by the perpetrators of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption and money laundering scandal.[132]
In 2018,
As of 2019, key criminal probes involving Swiss banks were the Petrobras bribery case, the Mozambique "tuna bonds", Credit Suisse "spygate" affair, Raiffeisen insider trading and UBS tax evasion in France.[138][139][140]
In 2021, the
In 2021, Swiss firm
In 2021, UBS was criminally convicted by an appeals court in France for money laundering the proceeds of tax evasion by French citizens and fined €1.8 billion.[145][146]
In 2023, Switzerland returned $138 million to Taiwan in connection with a corruption scandal relating to the sale of French frigates to Taiwan in 1991.[147]
Tax evasion
Switzerland has been ranked among the top three
Background
According to the 2018 Financial Secrecy Index, Switzerland's banking secrecy laws have rendered it a premier tax haven since the 1900s.[18] It also noted that this status has been frequently abused by criminals to illegally evade paying taxes in their home country.[18] One of the most prominent attractions of the disclosure protection laws is the distinction between tax evasion (non-reporting of income) and tax fraud (active deception).[149] Akin to the distinction between legal tax avoidance and illegal tax evasion in the U.S., the non-reporting of income is only a civil offense in Switzerland while tax fraud is a financial crime.[149] When foreign clients deposit holdings into a Swiss bank account, the bank is legally prohibited from disclosing balances or client information to tax authorities.[149] This prohibition can only be waived if the client has produced a written statement of consent or a financial crime has been directly linked to the bank account.[149] More often than not,[7] clients do not consent to foreign tax authorities, which leaves only the latter (financial crime) provision available.[69] Many client services available in Switzerland (e.g. numbered bank accounts) are used to shield client data from tax authorities.[69]
Many sovereign states do not legally require private bankers to confirm whether or not a client has paid their taxes, in any capacity.[150] On top of this, Switzerland's banking secrecy laws prohibit the disclosure of client information under a variety of federal, cantonal, and civil policies.[71] Many foreign nationals open Swiss bank accounts to take advantage of these laws and tax distinctions.[69] While citizens of Switzerland retain the full force of banking secrecy protections, foreign clients are afforded some of the most stringent bank–client confidentiality protections in the world.[69] In exchange for banking services, the Swiss government charges "a low, lump-sum option on the money they bank", after which Swiss tax authorities consider client tax burdens "settled".[151] After the Banking Law of 1934 was passed, Swiss bankers traveled across Europe to advertise the country's banking secrecy during World War II.[7] As European countries began to increase taxes to finance the war, wealthy clients moved their holdings into Swiss accounts to avoid taxation.[7]
Fines
Swiss banks have collectively paid more than $12 billion in fines in recent years to the tax authorities in France, Germany, Italy, the United States and other countries for helping with tax evasion.
In popular culture
Banking in Switzerland, in particular Swiss banking secrecy practices, has been detailed in global
Swiss banking is prominently featured in the following films and television shows:
If you can't trust a Swiss banker, then what's the world come to?
- James Bond in film and in literature dozens of times, it plays a central role in:
- Goldfinger (1964): James Bond (Sean Connery) thwarts Goldfinger's plans to rob a U.S. gold depository frequently citing Swiss underground gold bunkers and bank accounts numbers as motivation.[157] This film was written after Switzerland's role in World War II was at the forefront of international critique on bank secrecy.[157]
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969): supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas) tells James Bond (George Lazenby) that unless a large sum of money is deposited into a Swiss bank account, a bomb will detonate and kill thousands of people.[158] Mentions of Swiss banking in the James Bond novels have been viewed as "reinforcing a stereotype".[154]
- The World Is Not Enough (1999): James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) visits a Swiss bank in Spain called La Banque Suisse de L'Industrie to meet an associate before jumping out of a five-story window.[159][157]
- Casino Royale (2006): After a high stakes poker game is completed, the winnings of James Bond (Daniel Craig) is transferred to a Swiss bank in Basel account for security.[157]
- The Godfather Part III (1990): Frederick Keinszig (Helmut Berger), a Swiss banker for the Vatican, gets into a shootout with the Corleone family over technicalities over bank–client confidentiality.[160] The movie was seen as establishing the "Swiss banker trope" within mainstream culture.[160]
- The Bourne Identity (2002): Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), a secret operative for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who has retrograde amnesia, begins to recall life events after opening a bank deposit box containing a gun, large amounts of international currency and a variety of passports.[161] The scene was seen as unduly "[emphasizing] the issue of [bank] secrecy".[154]
Like most Swiss banks, our safe-deposit boxes are attached to a number, not a name. You have a key and a personal number known only to you.
- The Da Vinci Code (2006): Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) opens a Swiss bank account at the Paris-based "Depository Bank of Zürich", a high-tech bank that allows clients to deposit and withdraw assets with complete anonymity.[163] The usage of this type of numbered bank account is illegal both in France and Switzerland.[108]
- The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) travels to the Geneva-based Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) to meet with private banker Jean Jacques Saurel (Jean Dujardin) who advises Belfort to open an account in the name of a relative with a European passport to avoid U.S. taxation.[154] This is technically legal in Switzerland[3] as Belfort was not charged with a financial crime (at the time of meeting) and extra banking secrecy is afforded to European citizens.[164] Belfort's bank–client confidentiality was waived because Saurel traveled outside of Switzerland and was arrested on U.S. soil for a crime (money laundering) illegal in both countries.[108] The fictional interaction was called "a bit ridiculous and exaggerated" and "not very Swiss" by the Swiss Bankers Association.[154]
See also
- List of Swiss financial market regulation
- List of banks in Switzerland
- Commodities trading in Switzerland
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Several hunkered down in Switzerland, which refused to extradite its citizens to the United States for actions that weren't illegal in Switzerland. None had actually gone on trial.
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A broker dealer, at the request of the customer, may open an account that is simply identified by a number or a symbol, as long as there is a statement signed by the customer attesting to the ownership of the account.
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{{cite web}}
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In fact, mystery writers have utilized the Swiss Bank as the central focus of intrigue. Where else would one think to store the secrets of the holy grail but in a Swiss bank account, as was the case in the novel the 'Da Vinci Code'. But events in recent years have chipped away at this polished veneer to reveal some rather unseemly criminal behavior.
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