Europe, US Battle Swiss Bank Secrecy

Europe, US Battle Swiss Bank Secrecy

www.spiegel.de

According to Heim, the United States is by no means the only place where Swiss high finance and the country's banking secrecy laws are coming under growing pressure. Foreign authorities around the globe are increasingly taking sharper action against tax evaders. Swiss financial institutions, often in tandem with partners in Liechtenstein, play a central role in helping the ultra-rich avoid paying billions in taxes.

An almost unimaginable fortune of more than €3 trillion ($4.7 trillion) is currently sitting in Swiss bank accounts. The discreet Swiss allow vast amounts of money to disappear into trusts, offshore companies and bank accounts, money that is often protected by Switzerland's banking secrecy laws.

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Whether it's financing wars that go nowhere or welfare states that don't help anyone (see article below- "Government Fails to Tackle German Poverty), it seems that there is never enough money to satisfy any government. Despite the massive amounts spent on the German welfare state, one quarter of Germans still live in poverty!

"One of the system's strongest advocates is a senior executive with Switzerland's oldest private bank. For Konrad Hummler, a partner in Wegelin & Co., German tax evasion is a legitimate defense by citizens attempting to "partially escape the current grasp of the administrators of a disastrous social welfare state and its fiscal policies."

Personally, I don't think the Swiss should back down and let other countries tell them how to run their business. The governments who want the tax revenue claim that the money in Swiss bank accounts is stolen. Stolen from who? From the thieves themselves? Don't make me laugh. Apparently it's a crime to refuse to give your wallet to a mugger with a gun to your head.

Government Failing to Tackle Growing German Poverty
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 20-5-2008 by sc2099]