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SWISS BANKS – THE PIONEERS IN FINANCIAL
PRIVACY
Almost all investors’ first option is
the Swiss Bank when they think about
offshore havens. They are the best when
it comes to asset protection because
they are in this field for the longest
period of time, when compared to any
country.
The Swiss banks are the most preferred
in the world because they offer
protection, consistency, stability and
privacy to clients’ data and assets. The
tradition of keeping bank records a
secret began in the medieval times in
Switzerland and was made a law in 1934.
According to some reports almost 1/3rd
of the offshore funds are held in the
Swiss banks. The Credit Suisse and UBS
AG are the 2 biggest banks which are
said to be holding over fifty percent of
the deposits of Switzerland.
The Swiss law grants secrecy of the
banking information. However, it is not
unlimited. All the accounts in Swiss
banks are linked to an individual and
the judge may give an order which lifts
the secrecy of the banking data for the
said individuals. The law in Switzerland
has different meanings for tax fraud and
tax evasion. When individuals don’t
declare their earnings it is tax
evasion. However, if individuals file
duplicate tax documents then it is a
criminal offence.
The Swiss Banks passed the “Money
Laundering Act” to stop money laundering
from other countries. Several
individuals from around the world
including its own country men deposit
their cash in Swiss Bank Accounts and
evade tax.
In the years 2001 and 2002, when the
Italian government offered not to punish
those people who have evaded tax by
depositing them in Swiss Accounts, an
astronomical sum of thirty five billion
Euros came back into the country. In
2003, there was a similar incidence that
took place in Germany. This is the
reason why the entire world community,
including the United States are
pressurising the Switzerland government
to make more transparent banking laws.
However, totally anonymous bank accounts
are illegal in Switzerland also. You
have to submit all the documents which
are needed when you open a local bank
account. The major difference between
Swiss Accounts and other accounts is
that the personal data of the account
holder is restricted only to the senior
most bank officers in Swiss Banks but,
it is not the case with the regular bank
accounts. When there is a criminal
offence against an individual then his
bank account can be accessed with such
ease as the regular bank account.
In short, any person who would want to
keep legally earned money in a secure
and safe off – shore haven should
consider Swiss Banks as their first
choice. But, because of the high profile
of the Swiss Banks, they may compromise
on privacy. If you are looking for
complete privacy then you can consider
one of the banks in countries like
Guernsey Islands, Caicos and Turks.
Swiss Banks are able to maintain such
privacy because Switzerland has
distanced itself politically from the
rest of the world.
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