Swiss Bankers Too Scared To Travel Amid US Tax Probe: Business Head
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Fearing arrest by U.S. tax authorities, many Swiss bankers are now refusing to travel out of the country, be it for work or holiday, according to one business leader in an interview published on Sunday.
Fearing arrest by U.S. tax authorities, many Swiss bankers are now refusing to travel out of the country, be it for work or holiday, according to one business leader in an interview published on Sunday.
Martin Naville, the head of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce told Le Matin Dimanche weekly, as cited by AFP, that Swiss bankers had been spooked by recent high-profile arrests of their peers while overseas – including the arrest of former UBS head of Wealth Management Raoul Weil, who was captured while holidaying in Italy on October 19.
[quote]”In my opinion, some 1,000 Swiss bankers no longer dare to go to the United States, or even travel abroad,” Naville said, adding that the banks, as well as industry representatives, were already cautioning employees to refrain from travelling outside Switzerland.[/quote]According to Boston Consulting Group, Switzerland is the world’s biggest offshore financial centre, managing assets valued close to $2.1 trillion. Under its old banking secrecy laws, Swiss banks were known to have accepted hundreds of billions of undeclared dollars from U.S. citizens, though they now refuse such money due to a U.S. tax probe.
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Raoul Weil is believed to be in a list of 30 individual bankers who have been accused of helping U.S. customers conceal their assets. A U.S. federal grand jury indictment alleged that Weil and co-conspirators hid around $20 billion (15 billion euros) in assets from tax authorities.
Weil, who left UBS after the 2008 indictment, has denied the charges and is reportedly fighting his extradition from Italy to the U.S..
Weil’s arrest was notable as it happened in a neighbouring European country. Though most Swiss bankers, who faced U.S. indictment, already avoided travelling to the U.S., they now know that flights to other countries may not be safe as well.
As such, they are likely to be trapped in their own country, given that the Swiss government will not extradite its own citizens for tax issues without their consent.
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“I don’t even dare leave Zurich anymore,” said one unnamed banker to AFP after finding out his name had been handed to US authorities.
Some Geneva banks are also urging employees living on the French side of the border to settle in Switzerland instead to avoid problems, according to another banker.
