Tag Archives: Switzerland

FATCA: Breaking through Fear with a Swiss Referendum

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“The Swiss are likely to vote to overturn a FATCA agreement with the US Treasury Department, which has recently been ratified by Parliament. On October 8, a STOP-FATCA referendum committee has been set up, amid skepticism and fears of US reaction.  The best allies of the Swiss referendum abroad might be found in the United States, where James George Jatras and his web site RepealFatca.com are following the gathering of signatures with a mixture of joy and hope. If the referendum committee manages to gather 50’000 signatures by January 16, the Swiss people will be called on to vote on the matter in the course of the first half of 2014.”

http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/10/19/fatca-breaking-through-fear-with-a-swiss-referendum-2/

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Swiss war game envisages invasion by bankrupt French

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“Carried out in August, the apparently outlandish army exercise was based on the premise of an attack by a financially stricken France split into warring regions, according to Matin Dimanche, the Lausanne-based daily.  Famous for its bank secrecy laws, Switzerland often comes under criticism for allowing foreign account holders to hide their wealth from tax officials at home. This is by no means the first imaginary scenario dreamed up by the Swiss army. Last year, it carried out an exercise based on the premise that a huge wave of refugees crossed into the country after the implosion of the European Single Currency and ensuing chaos across the continent.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/switzerland/10344029/Swiss-war-game-envisages-invasion-by-bankrupt-French.html

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Banker feted as next ‘Snowden’ for selling stolen tax data to governments

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“He insists his motives have always been pure: to repel Switzerland’s ‘attack’ on other countries’ tax laws and exchequers. HSBC says he is no whistleblower. He tried to sell the data at first, the bank contends, and only started to work with prosecutors when he was jailed in Spain. Many more tax-shy Europeans have reason to sleep fitfully. Other countries are said to want a look at the pilfered data, much of which is apparently yet to be decrypted. When Mr Falciani first made the rounds with his discs, governments showed little interest. The fiscal strains produced by the euro crisis have changed all that.”

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/10/banks-and-tax-evasion

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Swiss bank exec fleeing from U.S. government arrested in Italian hotel

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“A former top executive at Swiss banking giant UBS wanted in the United States for allegedly helping wealthy Americans hide $20 billion from the taxman has been arrested in Italy, police said on Sunday.  Raoul Weil, 54, had been staying in a luxury hotel in the city of Bologna where he checked in under his real name, triggering a police check because he is on an international fugitive list.  Weil, who was chairman of the global wealth management service at UBS in Zurich, was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2008 for his alleged role in overseeing the US cross-border business.  The Swiss national always denied the charges and had been declared a fugitive by the US courts.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20131020/fugitive-ubs-exec-arrested-in-italian-hotel

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Another Swiss bank closes after US tax probe

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“Zurich-based Bank Frey & Co., which manages about 2.0 billion Swiss francs (1.6 billion euros, $2.2 billion), said late on Thursday its shareholders had decided to halt operations.  ‘The decision stems from the increasingly difficult market conditions, ever-growing regulations and the unsustainable requirements that smaller private banks are required to comply with, in part as a result of the tax dispute with the USA,’ it said in a statement.  The bank said it had acted cooperatively within the framework of both Swiss and United States law and intends to continue to do so.  A failure to reach a settlement could lead to prosecution as well as being barred from the US financial system.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20131019/swiss-bank-closes-after-us-tax-probe

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Switzerland will release bank account numbers to foreign financial police

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“Switzerland will cooperate more closely on fighting money laundering, the Swiss body responsible said on Wednesday, marking a further loosening of bank secrecy a day after the country signed an accord to fight tax evasion.  In legislation that will come into force on November 1, the Bern-based Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS) said that Swiss authorities will be able to release the numbers of bank accounts opened in the country to foreign investigators.  A day earlier, Switzerland, widely considered a tax haven and long criticized for its secretive banking culture, signed an international agreement to exchange information among more than 60 countries aimed at exposing tax dodgers.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20131016/swiss-reinforce-cooperation-on-money-laundering

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Switzerland signs OECD tax convention to end banking secrecy

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“Under European Union and U.S. pressure to help fight tax evasion, Swiss political support for bank secrecy has gradually waned, paving the way for tax deals with foreign authorities.  The Paris-based OECD’s Multilateral Convention is a wide-reaching agreement to exchange information about taxpayers between authorities either on request or spontaneously.  Despite Switzerland’s new-found willingness to cooperate with foreign tax authorities, Berne stopped short of committing to the automatic exchange of tax records.  Switzerland still has to ratify its adhesion to the convention which could take as long as a year-and-a-half and which could get bogged down if it is put to a referendum.”

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/10/15/us-oecd-switzerland-idINBRE99E0MV20131015

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Swiss pot group spotlights loophole in cannabis decriminalization law

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“Authorities in Switzerland decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis earlier this month but a pot smokers group is already dispensing advice on how to avoid the penalty.  In a German-language brochure it advises users to lie to police to avoid paying the fine.  A person checked by police and found in possession of less than ten grams of cannabis ‘should not answer questions or lie’ about earlier consumption, the group says.  If a person admits to smoking ‘even a single joint’ police are then required to issue the 100-franc fine.  Someone who denies having smoked cannot be fined ‘and the piece of hash or little bag of weed’ they may be carrying cannot be confiscated.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20131009/group-advises-how-to-avoid-swiss-cannabis-fine

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Is Switzerland Still Open to Americans?

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“Switzerland, at this point, is the only country in Europe that does not allow for automatic information exchange or any regime whereby banks have no restrictions as to sharing detailed client and account information with other banks and tax authorities. Obviously, the pressure is on Switzerland to join the bandwagon. This, however, collides with Swiss client confidentiality and banking secrecy rules. And, according to recent polls, the Swiss people are not at all in favor of letting go of those privacy rights. The reason Switzerland has not joined yet is that such a step would certainly be subject to a national vote in Switzerland, as is the case with most critical changes of law.”

http://www.internationalman.com/78-global-perspectives/1002-is-switzerland-still-open-to-americans

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Switzerland marijuana decriminalization begins October 1st

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“From Tuesday, like a simple traffic offence, anyone over 18 caught in possession of up to ten grams of cannabis will receive a CHF100 ($110) fine and not have it put on their criminal record.   Supporters of the revision, which was approved by parliament a year ago, argue that liberalising the legislation and shifting from criminal offence to misdemeanour is a small but realistic approach to cannabis consumption.  The change brings Switzerland in line with other European countries that tolerate dope smoking in small amounts. Up to 500,000 people in Switzerland, which has a population of eight million, are believed to be occasional cannabis smokers.”

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Mixed_feelings_over_new_Swiss_cannabis_law.html?rss=true&cid=36977488

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