[Le Temps, Switzerland]

 

 

Tribune De Geneve, Switzerland

Switzerland Escapes America's Fangs

 

"Never before has a Swiss bank been obliged by law or political pressure to put the heads of thousands of its customers on the chopping block. So is Switzerland victorious? Yes - if we consider a gazelle liberated from the jaws of a lion after being badly chomped victorious."

 

EDITORIAL by Pierre-Yves Frei

 

Translated By Philippe Guittard

 

August 20, 2009

 

Switzerland - Le Temps - Original Article (French)

The New York headquarters of the Union Bank of Switzerland: According to a deal signed by the bank and the Justice Department, UBS will fork over the data associated with 4,450 American clients - putting a significant dent in Switerland's famed bank secrecy.   REUTERS NEWS VIDEO: Switerland agrees to reveal names of America clients of UBS, Aug. 20, 00:01:04

Few agreements are a victory for both parties. The one between the United States and Switzerland concerning UBS [Union Bank of Switzerland] clearly belongs to this category.

 

[Editor's Note: Swiss bank giant UBS and the Justice Department reached an agreement Wednesday that would force UBS to disclose the names of certain American clients suspected of tax evasion. UBS will hand over to the IRS, details of 4,450 clients suspected of holding undeclared assets in return for the U.S. abandoning a lawsuit against the bank seeking to identify all of its 52,000 U.S. account holders. That is the "victory" mentioned in this editorial.]

 

But even if the Federal Council [Switzerland's collective head of state] is pleased to have drawn what is needed out of the talks - and this is doubtless the case - let's keep in mind that in normal times, Switzerland would have rejected America's request for administrative assistance, or would have treated such a request with circumspection coupled with the extremely slow minutia required by such matters.

 

So certainly, the procedures provided for under Swiss law and the convention on double taxation will be respected. But one cannot be satisfied with that alone.   

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

Behind this victory for respecting legal procedure, there is nevertheless a symbolic defeat. Never before has a Swiss bank been obliged by the law or political pressure to put the heads of thousands of its customers on the chopping block.

 

The Swiss banking community has always fought tooth and nail to reinforce bank secrecy to the point that for a time it appeared to be an impregnable fortress.

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:  

Nachrichten, Switzerland: U.S. and E.U. Pressure Spells End of Swiss Bank Secrecy
Le Temps, Switzerland: Wake Up. Swiss Bank Secrecy is Under Threat! 
Nachrichten, Switzerland: UBS America Turned Into a 'Criminal Organization' 

 

 

Since the 1970s, however, there has been a long and inexorable process of erosion. How can we deny this? And how can we doubt that this tendency toward disintegration will continue when in this very year, a major bank was forced to hand over confidential information and when the Swiss government has abandoned the distinction between tax evasion and fraud?

 

[Editor's Note: Tax evasion, where one merely "fails" to report assets or income, isn't a crime in Switzerland. Until recently under a bilateral agreement, only conduct that is criminal in both countries, such as fraud, would bring a Swiss bank to turn over information on their customers. It now appears that at least in the case of Americans, this Swiss distinction is at an end].

 

So is Switzerland victorious? Yes - if we consider a gazelle liberated from the jaws of a lion after being badly chomped victorious.

 

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US August 19, 9:55pm]