Switzerland to Loosen Bank Secrecy Laws

That collective gasp emanating from the Vicmead Hunt Club can now be explained.

According to the BBC, Switzerland has agreed to loosen its bank secrecy laws after facing pressure from Washington and other international capitals.

The Swiss government confirmed that in line with OECD rules, it would now respond to overseas requests for information in cases of suspected tax evasion, and not just tax fraud.The main difference between tax evasion and tax fraud, is that the former is the deliberate concealing of assets, while the later also involves lying on official documentation.Unlike most countries, tax evasion is only a civil offence in Switzerland, and not a criminal matter.

Switzerland reportedly took this action to avoid being placed on a global blacklist of uncooperative governments, a list that is currently comprised of Andorra, Liechtenstein, and Monaco.

The article further states that this will clearly strengthen leverage against UBS, which has provided information on only 300 of an estimated 52,000 accounts UBS has steered out of the US.

‘Bulo wonders how many ‘patriots’ from Delaware have squirreled their money over there. He looks forward to finding out.