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Banking in Switzerland dates to the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and over the centuries has grown into a complex and regulated international industry. Banking is seen as very emblematic of Switzerland and the country has been one of the largest, if not largest, offshore financial centers and tax havens in the world since the mid-20th century, with a long history of banking secrecy, security 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 were used to protect assets of persons being persecuted by Nazi authorities but have also been used by people and institutions seeking to illegally evade taxes, hide assets, or to commit other financial crime.
Template:Culture of Switzerland Controversial protection of foreign accounts and assets during World War II sparked a series of proposed financial regulations seeking to limit bank secrecy, but with little resulting action. Despite various international efforts to roll back banking secrecy laws in the country which were largely minimized or reverted by Swiss social and political forces, in 2017 Switzerland agreed to "automatic exchange of information" (AEOI) with foreign governments and their revenue services regarding information of depositors not resident in Switzerland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This constituted de facto the end of Swiss banking secrecy for depositors who were not Swiss residents.<ref name="foreignbanks" /> Furthermore, after Switzerland ratified the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act agreement with the United States, because of concerns regarding their tax liability (the U.S. taxes its citizens regardless of whether they are resident in the U.S. or not) some Swiss banks have gone so far as to close accounts held by US citizens, and to ban the opening of new accounts by US citizens and by dual US-Swiss citizens, including those deemed lawful permanent Swiss residents.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Thus banking secrecy remains in force only for those residing in and solely taxable in Switzerland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Disclosing client information has been considered by Switzerland a criminal offence since the early 1900s. Employees working in Switzerland and at Swiss banks abroad have "long adhered to an unwritten code similar to that observed by doctors or priests".<ref name="Thomasson-2013" /> Since 1934 Swiss banking secrecy laws have been violated to a major extent by only four people, namely: Christoph Meili (1997), Bradley Birkenfeld (2007), Rudolf Elmer (2011) and Hervé Falciani (2014).
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.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b"/> 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.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b">Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018), p. 2</ref> Banking in Switzerland has been portrayed, with varying degrees of accuracy, in overall popular culture and television shows.
In 2023 Switzerland lost a lot of credibility as a banking centre after the collapse of Credit Suisse, one of the largest Swiss banks, subsequently acquired by its Swiss competitor UBS, and due to the way the affair was handled by the Swiss National Bank.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
HistoryEdit
Bank secrecy in the Swiss region can be traced<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b"/> to the Great Council of Geneva, which outlawed the disclosure of information about the European upper class in 1713.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> During the 1780s, Swiss bank accounts began insuring deposits, which contributed to their reputation for financial security.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> In 1815, the Congress of Vienna formally established Switzerland's international neutrality, which led to a large capital influx.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> The wealthy, landlocked Switzerland saw banking secrecy as a way to build an empire similar to that of France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> Swiss historian Sébastian Guex notes in The Origins of Secret Swiss Bank Accounts:
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After a small scale civil war in the 1840s between the Swiss cantons, the Swiss Federation was founded in 1848.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> The formation of the state, through a direct democracy, contributed to the political stability needed for banking secrecy.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> The mountainous terrain of Switzerland provided a natural environment in which to excavate underground vaults for storage of gold and diamonds.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> In the 1910s, during World War I, Swiss bankers traveled to France to advertise the country's banking secrecy. According to Sébastien Guex, the banks printed "brochures, circulars, personalised letters, and advertising in newspapers, and sent representatives who approached their clientele in person".<ref name="Atossa1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> The war's contribution to political and economic instability sparked a rapid capital movement into Switzerland.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> As France and Germany introduced progressive income and inheritance taxes for the first time, taxing greater wealth at higher rates<ref name="Atossa1" /> to finance the war, wealthy clients moved their holdings into Swiss accounts to avoid taxation.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> The French banked in Geneva, the Italians in Lugano, and the Germans in Zürich.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" />
The Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks, colloquially known as the Banking Law of 1934, made the violation of banking secrecy a federal criminal offence.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /><ref name="FSI-2022">Template:Cite journal</ref> That major step beyond the prior enforcement of banking secrecy under civil law resulted from several developments of the early 1930s, including the introduction in the same legislation of an embryonic form of banking supervision, which Swiss bankers argued could endanger secrecy; evolving jurisprudence of the Federal Supreme Court; and a 1932 campaign against tax evasion in France led by Édouard Herriot's government,<ref name=Guex/> following a financial scandal that erupted in France in that year, involving thousands of wealthy French citizens and the Commercial Bank of Basel (Banque commerciale de Bâle–BCB). In a hotel apartment in Paris, the police discovered that the director and other officials of the aforementioned Swiss bank were providing information to important members of the French financial elite on how to transfer their money to Switzerland, in order to obtain untaxed returns.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Alleged wealthy French tax evaders included military generals and Catholic bishops.<ref name="Komisar">Template:Cite news</ref> An additional provision, Article 47(b), was drafted before its ratification to protect Jewish assets from the Nazi party.<ref name="FSI-2022" /><ref name="Mueller-1969">Template:Cite journal</ref>
During World War II, Switzerland remained diplomatically neutral but its economy and financial system served the Axis powers by storing gold and cash balances in underground vaults,<ref name="FSI-2022" /> buying gold from the Nazi German state, and lending to both Germany and Italy, thus supporting their aggressive endeavors.<ref name=Guex>Template:Cite journal</ref> Adolf Hitler maintained an account at the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) estimated at Template:Reichsmark.<ref name="FSI-2022" /><ref name="Boggan-1996">Template:Cite news</ref> After the United States formally asked the bank to transfer the money in the 1990s, UBS wired US$400 to 700 million worth of Reichsmarks to U.S. authorities.<ref name="FSI-2022" /> Banking regulations in Switzerland limit the amount of orphaned assets allowed to leave a bank's custody.<ref name="FSI-2022" /> UBS, with consent from the Swiss government, froze the account containing Hitler's assets indefinitely, and clipped the Reichsmarks, stripping the currency of value.<ref name="Boggan-1996" /> During World War II, UBS also maintained accounts for hundreds of German Jewish businesspeople and households.<ref name="Mueller-1969" /> After the Banking Law of 1934 was passed, the bank aggressively protected assets of the "enemies of Nazi Germany".<ref name="Mueller-1969" /> When Hitler announced an (aborted) invasion of Switzerland in 1940,{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Fix }} UBS contracted the Swiss Armed Forces to blockade their retail banks and transport Jewish assets to underground military bunkers.<ref name="Schutz-2000">Template:Cite book</ref> The Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) and Credit Suisse, did likewise.<ref name="FSI-2022" />
World War II and beyondEdit
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.<ref name=Guex/> 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.<ref name="bowlby20100225">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, numerous international proposals for bank secrecy rollbacks were made by foreign states with little success.<ref name="FSI-2022" />
After the 2008 financial crisis, Switzerland signed the European Union Savings Directive (EUSD) which obliges Swiss banks to report to 43 European countries non-identifying annual tax statistics.<ref name="FSI-2018c">Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018), p. 5</ref> On December 3, 2008, the Federal Assembly increased the prison sentence for violations of banking secrecy from a maximum of six months to five years.<ref name="Neghaiwi-2017">Template:Cite news</ref> In late 2008, after an international, multi-state investigation into Switzerland's role in U.S. tax evasion, UBS entered into a limited, deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the U.S. Department of Justice.<ref name="FSI-2018d">Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018), p. 4</ref> The agreement initiated the landmark Birkenfeld Disclosure of information on more than 4,000 clients.<ref name="FSI-2018d" /> Template:Quote box
In November 2013, the Zürcher Kantonalbank was classified as a systemically important bank in Switzerland by order of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), alongside UBS, Credit Suisse, Raiffeisen (Switzerland) and PostFinance, and must meet stricter capital requirements and prepare contingency plans for times of crisis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In another step toward loosening banking secrecy, Switzerland signed the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), after rejecting it twice in parliament.<ref name="FSI-2018d" /> The FATCA requires Swiss banks to disclose non-identifying U.S. client information annually to the Internal Revenue Service.<ref name="FSI-2018d" /> The agreement does not guarantee the semi-automatic information transfers, which remain at the discretion of Swiss government authorities.<ref name="Song-2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> If a client does not consent to having their information shared with the IRS, Swiss law prohibits the disclosure.<ref name="Song-2015" /> If a client does consent, Swiss banks send the IRS tax-related information about the account holder but are prohibited from disclosing identities pursuant to Article 47 of the Banking Law of 1934.<ref name="Song-2015" /> The 2018 Financial Secrecy Index stated: "this [does] not mean that Swiss banking secrecy was finished, as some excitable news reports suggest... the breach was a partial [dent]".<ref name="FSI-2018e">Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018), p. 4</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="SWI-2017">Template:Cite news</ref> The CRS does not, however, override the Swiss Banking Law of 1934, so the client's expenses (withdrawals) and investments are not disclosed.<ref name="FSI-2018e"/> Thus tax authorities cannot "go fishing" for tax evaders, they must directly link a financial crime to the client's account.<ref name="FSI-2018e" /> The disclosed information can only be used for tax auditing and Swiss authorities may prevent disclosure.<ref name="Beyeler-2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="Enrich-2018">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="Reuters-2018">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2023, Switzerland lost credibility as a banking system after the collapse of Credit Suisse, acquired by the Swiss competitor UBS, and the way the affair was handled by the Swiss National Bank.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Banking and the Swiss economyEdit
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Switzerland is a prosperous nation with a per capita gross domestic product higher than that of most Western European nations. The value of the Swiss franc (CHF) has been relatively stable compared with that of many others. Swiss neutrality and national sovereignty, long recognized by foreign nations, have fostered a stable environment for the banking sector to develop and thrive. Switzerland maintained neutrality through both World Wars, is not a member of the European Union or NATO, and did not join the United Nations until 2002.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Bank of International Settlements (BIS), an organization that facilitates cooperation among the world's central banks, is headquartered in Basel. Founded in 1930, the BIS chose to locate in Switzerland because of the country's neutrality, which was important to the organization founded by countries that had been enemies in World War I.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Banking has played a dominant role in the Swiss economy for two centuries.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), total banking assets amount to 467% of total gross domestic product.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" />
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.<ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2023 e742">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Origin of fundsEdit
Most of the wealth from overseas in Switzerland originates in Germany, France and Saudi Arabia (2018).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to the Swiss Bankers Association in 2022, the amount held by Russian clients in Swiss banks is between CHF150 and CHF200 billion ($160 and $214 billion).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
RegulationEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Jones Times 2023 u136">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Automatic exchange of tax informationEdit
In February 2013, the Swiss Federal Council allowed the signing of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) with the US. These agreements force all Swiss banks to inform the Internal Revenue Service of undeclared, offshore accounts. These new regulations are applicable from 2014, and in turn assure Swiss banks of continued operations within the US.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} (in German). Blick.com Wirtschaft. Retrieved 26 May 2013.</ref>
In July 2019, the US Senate approved the Double Taxation Treaty (DTA) with Switzerland, which had already been accepted by the Swiss parliament in 2010. The new agreement, applicable to accounts from September 23, 1999, onward, amends the tax treaty of 1996 and regulates requests for information on financial accounts by US authorities, as well as exemptions for retirement savings by US persons.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}. The Local.ch. Retrieved 5 August 2019.</ref>
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.<ref name="swiss">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Swiss banks, insurance companies and trusts have a legal obligation to comply but charitable Swiss foundations are so far exempt.<ref name="swiss"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2023 b634">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2023 z191">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
LoopholesEdit
Swiss banks are obliged to reject or terminate business relationships if there are doubts about the real identity of the owner of the account.<ref name="26SWI swissinfo.ch 2023">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Swiss banks have a legal obligation to record the ultimate beneficial owners of all assets they handle worldwide, but doing so accurately can be tricky in jurisdictions where it is easy for third parties to mask who the owners are.<ref name="Long shadow of Russian money raises">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Thus, loopholes exist through the use of shell companies, trust funds, and proxy directors signing the paperwork without owning the assets.<ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Similarly, the use of a "straw man" or a family member is a way also to hide the true beneficial ownership in some cases.<ref name="Switzerland's secrecy blind spot hi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Loopholes exist also with people with multiple nationalities who only declare one citizenship to the authorities for the purpose of tax reporting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Another loophole consists (for US citizens) in setting up shell companies abroad and registering them with the IRS as "offshore financial institutions". The IRS issues the entities unique Global Intermediary Identification Numbers, or GIINs, which relieve the banks of FATCA's requirement to investigate whether they're held by Americans. This loophole was allegedly used by billionaire Robert Brockman to avoid taxation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The banking systems of Switzerland and Liechtenstein have close ties. Liechtenstein's trust companies are clients of Swiss banks. Liechtenstein does not require trust companies to identify people with signatory powers, and does not prosecute tax evasion or tax fraud (2000).<ref name="SWI234 swissinfo.ch 2000">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
To improve the tracking down and freezing of assets, Swiss NGO Public Eye has called for a national task force, a register of the beneficial owners of front companies and a reporting obligation for lawyers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Tax Justice Network and FATF<ref name="Switzerland's secrecy blind spot hi"/> made similar recommendations in 2018, including breaking up the Big Four accounting firms.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="h358">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of 2022, the Swiss government is following up on some of those recommendations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition, Transparency International is demanding that lawyers, financial advisors plus real estate and art transactions be subject to the same exacting anti-money laundering measures as banks.<ref name="James 2023 o707">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Enabling industryEdit
Template:See also The "enabling industry" refers to lawyers, fiduciaries, notaries, and real estate agents who assist criminals in investing or hiding their ill-gotten wealth. Their activity is not covered by the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act as long as they are only advising clients to place money in a particular financial institution or country.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Furthermore, lawyers in Switzerland can refuse to disclose almost anything to the authorities about their clients.<ref name="Long shadow of Russian money raises"/><ref name="IFLR 2023 d594">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Under the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act, banks must report suspicious clients and transactions to the authorities. Lawyers and other advisors have no such obligation if they simply create trusts and other constructs rather than handle assets.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Swiss Financial Services Act of 2020 (FinSA) requires financial advisers to obtain a licence (950 firms advising on nearly $200 billion have been approved by FINMA). The law also requires any "retrocession" paid by the bank to the advisor to be disclosed publicly.<ref name="Jones Times 2023 u136"/>
Assets seizureEdit
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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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For example, in 2022, a Russian oligarch reportedly handed his Swiss company over to his wife to avoid the sanctions against Russia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
At least a dozen destitute autocrats have had their assets frozen or seized by the Swiss government over the years. The amounts can be counted in billions of dollars. According to the Swiss media, some of the amounts have not yet been restituted to the people of the countries of origin to whom it properly belongs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ProtectionsEdit
Breaches of banking secrecy laws in Switzerland are automatically processed pursuant to Article 47 of the Banking Law of 1934: those who disclose client information are subject to a maximum of five years' imprisonment and 250,000 francs (€215,000 or US$250,000)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in fines.<ref name="Maurice-1984" /> Whistleblowers and leakers of client information often face hostility from the public and sustain professional setbacks.<ref name="Carvajal-2014" /><ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> Denounced as a criminal in Switzerland, a federal arrest warrant has been in place for Bradley Birkenfeld since 2008, after he disclosed UBS client information to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in 2007.<ref>"UBS exec indicted in tax evasion scheme." The Recorder (2008). General Reference Center Gold. Web. 17 June 2010.</ref> After the 2008 financial crisis, the Swiss Parliament initiated a series of international tax treaties that rolled back banking secrecy protections for foreign clients in response to pressure from the European Union, United States, and United Kingdom.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" />
Major banksEdit
Template:See also Template:As of, 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:As of 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.<ref name="jones20230406">Template:Cite news</ref>
Swiss National BankEdit
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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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Raiffeisen Banks "assumes the role of central bank" in providing treasury services, and is the third largest group consisting of 328 banks in 2011, 390 in 2012 with 1,155 branches.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to the bank in 2012 non-U.S. businesses of Wegelin & Co, the oldest Swiss bank, would be bought by the Raiffeisen group. The group has 3 million plus clients within Switzerland.<ref name="swissinfo.ch">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="online.wsj.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>
UBSEdit
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UBS Group AG came into existence in June 1998, when Union Bank of Switzerland, founded in 1862, and Swiss Bank Corporation, founded in 1872, merged.<ref name="UBS-2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Headquartered in Zürich and Basel, it is Switzerland's largest bank.<ref name="UBS-2018" /> It maintains seven main offices around the world (four in the United States and one each in London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong) and branches on five continents.<ref name="UBS-2018" /> UBS has been at the center of various tax evasion investigations and other criminal investigations since its founding. UBS was fined $100 million by the Federal Reserve in 2004 for trading in dollars with Iran and other sanctioned countries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Credit SuisseEdit
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Credit Suisse Group was the second-largest Swiss bank.<ref name="Credit Suisse-2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Based in Zürich and founded in 1856, Credit Suisse offers private banking, investment banking and asset management services.<ref name="Credit Suisse-2018" /> It acquired the First Boston Corporation in 1988 and merged with the Winterthur insurance company in 1997; the latter was sold to AXA in 2006.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The asset management services were sold to Aberdeen Asset Management during the 2008 financial crisis.<ref name="Credit Suisse-2018" /> Credit Suisse has been at the center of various tax evasion investigations or money laundering activities since its founding.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Credit Suisse collapsed in 2023 and it was acquired by UBS the same year.<ref name=acq>Template:Cite news</ref>
Private banksEdit
The term private bank refers to a bank that offers private banking services and in its legal form is a partnership.<ref name="Noonan-2017">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Noonan-2017" /> 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.<ref name="Noonan-2017" /> 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.<ref name="Noonan-2017" />
Cantonal banksEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The largest cantonal bank, the Zurich Cantonal Bank, has approximately 5 000 employees had a 2005 net income of CHF810 million.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ControversiesEdit
Banking secrecyEdit
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Switzerland, considered the "grandfather of bank secrecy", has been one of the largest offshore financial centers and tax havens in the world since the mid-20th century.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a">Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018), p. 1</ref> Despite an international push to meaningfully roll back banking secrecy laws in the country, Swiss political forces have minimized and reverted many of the proposed rollbacks.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> Disclosing client information has been considered a serious social and criminal offense since the early 1900s.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> Whistleblowers, despite legal protections, often face professional setbacks in Switzerland.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /><ref name="Carvajal-2014">Template:Cite news</ref> Swiss bankers who maintain offices exclusively in Switzerland are shielded from a foreign state's lawsuits, extradition requests, and criminal charges, as long as they remain within the country's legal jurisdiction.<ref name="Enrich-2018"/> In spite of minor adjustments to bank secrecy, bankers working in Switzerland and abroad at Swiss banks have long adhered to an unwritten code similar to that observed by doctors or priests.<ref name="Thomasson-2013">Template:Cite news</ref> Switzerland's main lingual hubs, Geneva (for French), Lugano (for Italian), and Zürich (for German) service the different geographical markets.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> It consistently ranks in the top three states on the Financial Secrecy Index and was named first many times, most recently in 2018.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> The Swiss Bankers Association estimated in 2018 that Swiss banks held US$6.5 trillion in assets or 25% of all global cross-border assets.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> These secrecy laws have linked the Swiss banking system with individuals and institutions seeking to illegally evade taxes, hide assets, or generally commit financial crime.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Secrecy laws have been violated by four people since 1934: Christoph Meili (1997), Bradley Birkenfeld (2007), Rudolf Elmer (2011), and Hervé Falciani (2014).<ref name="Thomasson-2013" /> In all four cases, the whistleblowers were served with federal arrest warrants, fined, and sustained professional setbacks in Switzerland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Besides, some autocratic or developing countries don't have any automatic exchange of tax information with Switzerland.
In 2022, the Helsinki Commission of the U.S. Congress stated:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web
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Long known as a destination for war criminals and kleptocrats to stash their plunder, Switzerland is a leading enabler of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his cronies. After looting Russia, Putin and his oligarchs use Swiss secrecy laws to hide and protect the proceeds of their crimes.{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
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Freedom of the pressEdit
Since leaking financial data is a criminal offense in Switzerland (even if it is in the public interest)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> punishable with up to five years in jail, Swiss media argued in February 2022 that the banking secrecy law runs contrary to freedom of speech and freedom of the press in some cases.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Council asked for a better protection of journalists and whistleblowers in this regard.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bank vaults and bunkersEdit
Template:See also A handful of larger Swiss banks operate undisclosed or otherwise secretive bank vaults, storage facilities or underground bunkers for gold bars, diamonds, or other valuable physical assets.<ref name="Schutz-2000"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Most of these underground bunkers are located near or at the foothills of the mountainous regions of the Swiss Alps.<ref name="Baker-2016">Template:Cite news</ref> These facilities are not subject to the same banking regulations as banks in Switzerland and do not have to report holdings to regulatory agencies.<ref name="Baker-2016" /><ref name="IWJC-1996">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Swiss defense department estimates that of the ten former military bunkers available for sale, six of them were sold to Swiss banks to house assets during the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="Schutz-2000"/><ref name="Mercury News-2013">Template:Cite news</ref> Storage in these underground bunkers and bank vaults is typically reserved for clients that pass a multi-stage security clearance.<ref name="Baker-2016" /> Some of these bunkers are not accessible by road or foot and require aircraft transportation.<ref name="Schutz-2000"/>
Numbered bank accountsEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} 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.<ref name="The Economic Times-2013">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Obringer-2011"/> 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.<ref name="The Economic Times-2013" /> Some Swiss banks supplement the number with a code name such as "Cardinal",<ref name="Enrich-2018"/> "Octopussy"<ref name="Browning-2009">Template:Cite news</ref> or "Cello"<ref name="Browning-2009" /> that provide an alternative means of identifying the client.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="Koba-2008">Template:Cite news</ref>
Connection to illegal activitiesEdit
Swiss banks have served as safe havens for the wealth of dictators, despots, mobsters, arms dealers, corrupt officials, and tax cheats of all kinds.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Historically, mobster Meyer Lansky, Vatican-linked banker Licio Gelli of the lodge "P2" in Italy, Mexican president Carlos Salinas's family amongst others, have reportedly used Swiss banks to launder money over the years.<ref>"Offshore Banking: The Secret Threat to America", Dissent, Spring 2003.</ref><ref name=1982arrest>"Leader of Italian Scandal Arrested Trying to Get Cash in Swiss Bank," The Miami Herald, September 15, 1982</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Swiss banks have been commonly identified as holding ill-gotten Nazi gold.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Eizenstat">Eizenstat Special Briefing on Nazi Gold Template:Webarchive. Stuart Eizenstat, US State Department, 2 June 1998. Retrieved on 5 July 2006.</ref>
Time magazine reported that throughout 1981 and 1982, the Israelis reportedly set up Swiss bank accounts to handle the financial end of the annual multi-million dollars arms deals between Iran and Israel during the Iran–Iraq War.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>For more on Israeli Hawk missile sales to Iran see Richard Johns, "Arms Embargo Which Cannot Withstand The Profit Motive," Financial Times (London), 13 November 1987)</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
According to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's office and media, during the 1990s and early 2000s Al Qaeda members had accounts at Swiss banks, including at UBS.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Switzerland finally released a total of $683 million in Marcos funds to the Philippines Treasury in 2004.<ref name="StARnodeMarcosSwitzerland">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Mark Pieth, a Swiss professor of criminal law, said Mobutu of Zaire had stolen US$30 billion over his 30 years in power but much of it he used to oil the wheels of power and pay off political and military allies. Billions were hidden in Swiss bank accounts illegally.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
According to Haitian authorities, Jean Claude Duvalier had nearly $300 million of Haitian people's money hidden in Swiss bank accounts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Then-Nigerian President Sani Abacha is said to have stolen over a billion dollars in the 90's from his country, some of it hidden in Swiss bank accounts.<ref name="j262">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="m742">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2013, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit news organization, obtained records of companies and trusts created by two offshore companies. These included information on at least 23 companies linked to an alleged $230 million tax fraud in Russia, a case that was being investigated by Sergei Magnitsky. The ICIJ investigation also revealed that the husband of one of the Russian tax officials deposited millions in a Swiss bank account set up by one of the offshore companies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Swiss bank accounts were utilised by the perpetrators of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption and money laundering scandal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
More recent studies show that Credit Suisse alone held assets worth $100 billion over several decades which were linked to corruption and bribery to drug and human trafficking for more than 30,000 clients.<ref name="Guardian">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Apart from the 2022 "Suisse secrets" revelations, Credit Suisse had several other cases of scandals reported by the media over the last decades.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2018, London-based Tax Justice Network ranks Switzerland's banking sector as the "most corrupt" in the world due to a large offshore banking industry and very strict secrecy laws. The ranking attempts to measure how much assistance the country's legal systems provide to money laundering, and to protecting corruptly obtained wealth.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2021, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Zürich police are investigating CHF 9 billion from Venezuela that has been received by 30 Swiss banks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A Swiss bank account was used to bribe a Venezuelan minister.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Other major cases involving the Credit Suisse money laundering case for drug-traffickers in Bulgaria, Falcon Bank, 1MBD, Glencore, SICPA, SBM Offshore, PKB, J. Safra Sarasin, Cramer Bank and Lombard Odier Bank.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2021, Swiss firm Allied Finance Trust AG and five Swiss bankers were charged with tax fraud conspiracy in New York.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2023 e040">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Tax evasionEdit
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Switzerland has been ranked among the top three tax havens in the world every single year since the 2008 financial crisis, most recently in 2018.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> In 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden also called Switzerland a "tax haven" during his speech to a joint session of Congress.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Money placed in tax heavens, by definition, evades taxation and therefore diminishes tax revenues in the government's budget of the country of origin to whom it properly belongs, substantially, including for development purposes.
BackgroundEdit
Template:See also According to the 2018 Financial Secrecy Index, Switzerland's banking secrecy laws have rendered it a premier tax haven since the 1900s.<ref name="FSI-2018d" /> It also noted that this status has been frequently abused by criminals to illegally evade paying taxes in their home country.<ref name="FSI-2018d" /> 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).<ref name="FDF-2009">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="FDF-2009" /> When foreign clients deposit holdings into a Swiss bank account, the bank is legally prohibited from disclosing balances or client information to tax authorities.<ref name="FDF-2009" /> 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.<ref name="FDF-2009" /> More often than not,<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> clients do not consent to foreign tax authorities, which leaves only the latter (financial crime) provision available.<ref name="Maurice-1984" /> Many client services available in Switzerland (e.g. numbered bank accounts) are used to shield client data from tax authorities.<ref name="Maurice-1984" />
Many sovereign states do not legally require private bankers to confirm whether or not a client has paid their taxes, in any capacity.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On top of this, Switzerland's banking secrecy laws prohibit the disclosure of client information under a variety of federal, cantonal, and civil policies.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> Many foreign nationals open Swiss bank accounts to take advantage of these laws and tax distinctions.<ref name="Maurice-1984">Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.<ref name="Maurice-1984" /> 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".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the Banking Law of 1934 was passed, Swiss bankers traveled across Europe to advertise the country's banking secrecy during World War II.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> As European countries began to increase taxes to finance the war, wealthy clients moved their holdings into Swiss accounts to avoid taxation.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" />
FinesEdit
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Starting in 2022, fines on Swiss banks abroad will be tax deductible (unless crime is involved).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In recent years Swiss banks have been fined by various regulators billions for FOREX and LIBOR rates manipulations.
In popular cultureEdit
Banking in Switzerland, in particular Swiss banking secrecy practices, has been detailed in global popular culture to varying degrees of accuracy. According to official statements from the Swiss National Film Archives, inaccurate or exaggerated portrayals negatively impact Switzerland by reducing bankers to unflattering "caricatures" that are "ever disposed to accept funds from questionable sources".<ref name="Dupraz-Dobias-2014">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2014, Sindy Schmiegel, a spokeswoman for the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA), stressed that financial regulation in Switzerland is dramatically more strict than portrayed fictionally.<ref name="Dupraz-Dobias-2014" /> The Economic Times noted that popular culture portrays Swiss bank accounts as "completely anonymous", later adding "this is simply not true."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Swiss banking is prominently featured in the following films and television shows: Template:Quote boxTemplate:Unordered list
See alsoEdit
- List of Swiss financial market regulation
- List of banks in Switzerland
- Commodities trading in Switzerland
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Banks of Switzerland Template:Switzerland topics Template:Banking in Europe Template:Portal bar