“Many wealthy families will now be feeling very nervous, for fear that information about their wealth will get into the wrong hands if passed to national tax authorities.”
Response from Charles Gothard at Speechly Bircham about Swiss secrecy changes:
“Many wealthy families will now be feeling very nervous, for fear that information about their wealth will get into the wrong hands if passed to national tax authorities. This is a particular worry for some Latin American families, who live in fear of kidnappings and therefore want their affairs to remain confidential – for entirely legitimate reasons.”
“It will be interesting to see whether Switzerland retains a distinction between tax fraud, which is a criminal offence and tax evasion, which is not. Many believe this distinction will prove untenable.”
Related
“This change was an inevitable response from Switzerland, at a time when many Swiss banks are also feeling nervous about keeping clients happy after significant losses on their investments, in some cases as a result of the Madoff fraud.”
“Switzerland was under intense pressure from the US authorities and the G20 and risked being labelled as a haven for terrorists and money launderers rather than as the pre-eminent location for private banking.”
For further information please contact:
Tali Robinson
Spada
0207 269 1430
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