Article from Tax Analysts, Switzerland and the U.S.: What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate
06.04.2012
Tax Analysts, by H. David Rosenbloom
Excerpt taken from the article.
A recent essay in Bloomberg View by University of Bern Law School professor Peter Viktor Kunz articulates the Swiss position — or at least a Swiss position — on international banking and bank secrecy.1 Professor Kunz acknowledges growing Swiss recognition of ‘‘genuine reputational issues abroad.'' He laments that ‘‘all anyone wants to talk about is our alleged facilitation of tax fraud and evasion.'' The Swiss, he reports, ‘‘don't see banking secrecy as something to be ashamed of.'' This form of ‘‘protection'' is like ‘‘nondisclosure of one's religious beliefs, sexual orientation or health status,'' which anyone coming to Switzerland should enjoy regardless of what his government may demand. ‘‘It is our strong belief that what you do with your legally gained money should be nobody's business but your own.''
To read the full article, Switzerland and the U.S.: What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate, click on the above pdf.
1 Peter Viktor Kunz, ‘‘Roger Federer, Swiss Banking Will Both <br>Come Back,'' Bloomberg, Apr. 30, 2012, available at http:// <br>mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-30/roger-federer-swissbanking- <br>will-both-come-back.
A recent essay in Bloomberg View by University of Bern Law School professor Peter Viktor Kunz articulates the Swiss position — or at least a Swiss position — on international banking and bank secrecy.1 Professor Kunz acknowledges growing Swiss recognition of ‘‘genuine reputational issues abroad.'' He laments that ‘‘all anyone wants to talk about is our alleged facilitation of tax fraud and evasion.'' The Swiss, he reports, ‘‘don't see banking secrecy as something to be ashamed of.'' This form of ‘‘protection'' is like ‘‘nondisclosure of one's religious beliefs, sexual orientation or health status,'' which anyone coming to Switzerland should enjoy regardless of what his government may demand. ‘‘It is our strong belief that what you do with your legally gained money should be nobody's business but your own.''
To read the full article, Switzerland and the U.S.: What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate, click on the above pdf.
1 Peter Viktor Kunz, ‘‘Roger Federer, Swiss Banking Will Both <br>Come Back,'' Bloomberg, Apr. 30, 2012, available at http:// <br>mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-30/roger-federer-swissbanking- <br>will-both-come-back.
