タックス・ヘイブン：銀行匿名制度の修正に動き出したスイス
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Mood shifts against Swiss banking secrecy
By Haig Simonian in Zurich
Published: April 15 2010 16:07 | Last updated: April 15 2010 16:07
Switzerland's Radicals were once the country's natural party of government. But these days they are tearing themselves apart over bank secrecy.
The party's chairman is pushing for it to reject Switzerland's past willingness to hide rich foreigners' undeclared funds. His initiative has won plaudits from the party's industrial wing – tired of seeing Switzerland in the dock in recent months. But it has gained brickbats from members representing the still-powerful financial lobby, which argues the move will turn Swiss banks into other countries' tax police.
The Radicals' tribulations are indicative of the wider debate under way nationally as, inexplicably for many Swiss, and incomprehensibly fast for all of them, the pendulum has swung against bank secrecy.
Switzerland's closest neighbours, normally its staunchest allies, have joined a charge led by the US, which in the past year has hounded UBS, the country's biggest bank, for helping rich Americans to evade tax. Rome has launched a massive amnesty encouraging Italians to repatriate funds. Paris has dragged its feet over a former Swiss bank employee accused of stealing confidential data. And Berlin has even paid for such information from another rogue worker. No wonder the Swiss are confused and angry.
After denial, division and resistance, Bern has grasped the world has changed and that negotiation is the best way forward. To avoid being stigmatised as an international pariah, the government last year started discussing new double taxation treaties, reflecting the higher transparency standards required by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – the rich nations' club.
The new treaties should help to address foreign concerns about Switzerland stonewalling attempts to track down tax dodgers. Bern has also acknowledged the country must in future not accept undeclared foreign funds – though politicians have wisely avoided any details about enforcement. And ministers have finessed the problem of the countless billions in so-called "legacy" accounts, sometimes established by wealthy foreigners whose heirs may now want to come clean, by arguing resolution is a shared problem for Switzerland and the holders' domestic taxmen.
Last month, the new approach won plaudits in Berlin, formerly one of Switzerland's severest critics. A meeting between Hans-Rudolf Merz, Swiss finance minister, and Wolfgang Schäuble, his German opposite number, ended in handshakes and smiles – a sharp contrast to the testier contacts between Mr Merz and Mr Schäuble's predecessor.
But adjusting to a more transparent world, where Switzerland's neighbours are more determined than ever to combat tax dodgers, remains a daunting task. Bern faces three challenges.
The first is to convince foreign governments that it is serious, and convince them that compliance today will not be diluted once, as some Swiss hope, the fuss dies down tomorrow.
The second is to achieve results. Bern has wisely jettisoned its previous sole focus on broadening withholding taxes as the only way to address foreign complaints about bank secrecy. Instead, the government now has a more subtle à la carte approach, offering various solutions, from amnesties to more comprehensive taxation – although all stop well short of automatic tax exchanges, Switzerland's red line.
The third challenge will be toughest – gaining the domestic backing for the new approach. Without popular support, any initiative could collapse under Switzerland's distinctive direct democracy, whereby important decisions can be challenged by referendums.
The tribulations of the Radicals, one of the five parties in the coalition government, spotlight the delicacy of the task. Many Swiss acknowledge the world has changed. But actual enthusiasm for diluting bank secrecy is limited. Switzerland's part-time parliament will have a first go in June, when a crucial deal brokered with the US to defuse the UBS crisis will be debated. Success is not guaranteed.
Further tests will come with parliamentary votes – and possible referendums – on new tax treaties. Some pundits already fear a popular backlash, especially if the independent-minded Swiss feel they are being bullied. And there is immense scope for populist mischief making by the ultra-nationalist Swiss People's party, which might try to present concessions on bank secrecy as a sell out.
Switzerland's current uncertainties may in time appear no more than an uncomfortable transition, as a familiar and lucrative system adapts to new circumstances. But while the destination may be clear, the journey promises to be bumpy.
Mood shifts against Swiss banking secrecy
By Haig Simonian in Zurich
Published: April 15 2010 16:07 | Last updated: April 15 2010 16:07
Switzerland's Radicals were once the country's natural party of government. But these days they are tearing themselves apart over bank secrecy.
The party's chairman is pushing for it to reject Switzerland's past willingness to hide rich foreigners' undeclared funds. His initiative has won plaudits from the party's industrial wing – tired of seeing Switzerland in the dock in recent months. But it has gained brickbats from members representing the still-powerful financial lobby, which argues the move will turn Swiss banks into other countries' tax police.
The Radicals' tribulations are indicative of the wider debate under way nationally as, inexplicably for many Swiss, and incomprehensibly fast for all of them, the pendulum has swung against bank secrecy.
Switzerland's closest neighbours, normally its staunchest allies, have joined a charge led by the US, which in the past year has hounded UBS, the country's biggest bank, for helping rich Americans to evade tax. Rome has launched a massive amnesty encouraging Italians to repatriate funds. Paris has dragged its feet over a former Swiss bank employee accused of stealing confidential data. And Berlin has even paid for such information from another rogue worker. No wonder the Swiss are confused and angry.
After denial, division and resistance, Bern has grasped the world has changed and that negotiation is the best way forward. To avoid being stigmatised as an international pariah, the government last year started discussing new double taxation treaties, reflecting the higher transparency standards required by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – the rich nations' club.
The new treaties should help to address foreign concerns about Switzerland stonewalling attempts to track down tax dodgers. Bern has also acknowledged the country must in future not accept undeclared foreign funds – though politicians have wisely avoided any details about enforcement. And ministers have finessed the problem of the countless billions in so-called "legacy" accounts, sometimes established by wealthy foreigners whose heirs may now want to come clean, by arguing resolution is a shared problem for Switzerland and the holders' domestic taxmen.
Last month, the new approach won plaudits in Berlin, formerly one of Switzerland's severest critics. A meeting between Hans-Rudolf Merz, Swiss finance minister, and Wolfgang Schäuble, his German opposite number, ended in handshakes and smiles – a sharp contrast to the testier contacts between Mr Merz and Mr Schäuble's predecessor.
But adjusting to a more transparent world, where Switzerland's neighbours are more determined than ever to combat tax dodgers, remains a daunting task. Bern faces three challenges.
The first is to convince foreign governments that it is serious, and convince them that compliance today will not be diluted once, as some Swiss hope, the fuss dies down tomorrow.
The second is to achieve results. Bern has wisely jettisoned its previous sole focus on broadening withholding taxes as the only way to address foreign complaints about bank secrecy. Instead, the government now has a more subtle à la carte approach, offering various solutions, from amnesties to more comprehensive taxation – although all stop well short of automatic tax exchanges, Switzerland's red line.
The third challenge will be toughest – gaining the domestic backing for the new approach. Without popular support, any initiative could collapse under Switzerland's distinctive direct democracy, whereby important decisions can be challenged by referendums.
The tribulations of the Radicals, one of the five parties in the coalition government, spotlight the delicacy of the task. Many Swiss acknowledge the world has changed. But actual enthusiasm for diluting bank secrecy is limited. Switzerland's part-time parliament will have a first go in June, when a crucial deal brokered with the US to defuse the UBS crisis will be debated. Success is not guaranteed.
Further tests will come with parliamentary votes – and possible referendums – on new tax treaties. Some pundits already fear a popular backlash, especially if the independent-minded Swiss feel they are being bullied. And there is immense scope for populist mischief making by the ultra-nationalist Swiss People's party, which might try to present concessions on bank secrecy as a sell out.
Switzerland's current uncertainties may in time appear no more than an uncomfortable transition, as a familiar and lucrative system adapts to new circumstances. But while the destination may be clear, the journey promises to be bumpy.
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