They've got their chocolate, cheese, fondues, army knives and watches - and, of course, secret bank accounts but the latter may become extinct if the rest of the world has anything to say about it.
Switzerland seems to be bowing to pressure from the United States, France and Germany, by agreeing to co-operate with investigations into tax evasion on a case by case basis. Switzerland is the world's biggest offshore financial centre, with an estimated $3 trillion in global wealth held in banks there. The threat of being put on an international black list has struck fear, not just among Swiss banks, but among Swiss industry. A blacklist could have subjected Switzerland's most successful companies to extra withholding taxes and complicated auditing and reporting requirements. Today's decision is all about damage limitation - Swiss banks may lose yet more wealthy international clients. But the government hopes its new willingness to co-operate in cases of tax evasion will lift the threat of the blacklist. As one commentator put it, "I think this is the end of the Swiss bank secrecy as we have known it, which enabled these enormous amounts, $US2 trillion, this is more than one third of all the money in the world that's put in banks offshore. A bank gets a one per cent fee - take one per cent out of this $US2 trillion and it's going to be a huge loss for the banks."
