Saturday, March 29, 2008

The end of Swiss banking secrecy?

ike Paul Revere, Konrad Hummler sounded the alarm last week as he made his way by train and by plane to his bank’s branches across Switzerland. This country’s storied role as secret banker to the world’s wealthy is under threat like never before, Mr. Hummler warned.

Mr. Hummler, the jaunty, blunt-spoken managing partner of Wegelin & Company, a small private bank in St. Gallen, has watched a German tax-evasion scandal evolve into a debate about banking secrecy here. Worried that the treasured discretion of Swiss banks is under assault, Wegelin’s foreign clients have been inquiring about their money.

Mr. Hummler says that this time, Switzerland may not be able to stop the rest of the world from prying open Swiss banking. More...

See also this and this...

No comments:

Post a Comment