Primary tabs

Swiss banks survive 'economic war' of global secrecy crackdown

Bloomberg Published on Wed, Aug 29, 2018 / 5:46 PM GMT+8

A-

A+

(Aug 29): When Switzerland pushes the button to send data on offshore bank accounts to foreign tax agencies this fall, it will be doing what was once virtually unthinkable: abandoning the absolute secrecy once afforded to anyone parking their cash in Zurich or Geneva.

The automatic exchange of account information due to take place with other European countries is the last chapter in a saga that began with the arrest of former UBS Group AG banker Bradley Birkenfeld in 2008, cost Swiss banks more than US$6 billion ($8.2 billion) in fines, and prompted criminal probes and travel bans for bankers.

Of the more than 80 institutions to wind up in the crosshairs of US authorities – among them UBS, Credit Suisse Group AG, and Julius Baer Group – Basler Kantonalbank and Zuercher Kantonalbank, are the latest to settle with the Department of Justice. Basler will pay US$60.4 million, while Zuercher agreed to pay US$98.5 million and both publicly owned banks admitted to helping clients conceal income and assets from the US government. Pictet and HSBC Holdings Plc’s Swiss unit are still waiting to settle.