Swiss fear more pressure on bank secrecy after Obama victory

[cal04]

Source: AFP

Switzerland is likely to come under further pressure from the United States over its prized system of banking secrecy after the election last week of Barack Obama, key sector players predicted.

The newly-elected US president, who formally takes office in January, is known for his hard line on fiscal evasion, having jointly presented a "Tax Haven Abuse Act" to the Senate back in 2007.

Switzerland was one of 34 countries listed as a potential site for tax evasion by US clients in the bill and observers said that while that particular piece of legislation is unlikely to see the light of day, it could yet inform the new president's policy.

"American legislation can move very quickly and laws can get passed speedily," said Martin Navillle, head of the Swiss-US Chamber of Commerce.

Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20081111/tts-swiss-fear-more-pressure-on-bank-sec-3c8ed92.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. Tough shit. nt

[onehandle]

2. I was in Switzerland recently. Very unpleasant, unfriendly people. Especially in Zurich.

They want little to do with the rest of Europe or the world. But they love money.

[Odin2005]

7. Aren't the Swiss quite socially conservative?

IIRC women didn't get the right to vote there until the 70s. :puke:

[onehandle]

9. There were porn shops and strip clubs all over Zurich.

Even in "family friendly" tourist areas.

I got a very isolationist vibe from the whole place.

[bunkerbuster1]

11. They're European that way.

Remember, most of Europe thinks Americans are awfully weird about sex, nudity and the like.

[onehandle]

13. My wife and I traveled all around Europe for over a month.

Yes, Europe has a much more healthier attitude, but there was still a sense of separation in most places.

In Zurich in some areas you would have a gift shop, then a porn store, then a candy store, then a strip club.

Seemed more sleazy there than open minded. I didn't get the same sense of sleaze when we came across that sort of thing in Paris, London and other places.

[bunkerbuster1]

10. Yep, Swiss women finally got the right to vote in national elections in 1971.

[AndyTiedye]

25. We Were in Switzerland a Couple of Years Ago and Came Away with the Opposite Impression

I was in Switzerland recently. Very unpleasant, unfriendly people.

People in Switzerland were quite friendly to us when we were there.
I wonder why your experience was so different.

Especially in Zurich.

Basel, Interlaken, and Lucerne are much nicer in every way.

[Heidi]

29. Zurich is like most metropolitan areas in the world.

I personally enjoy Zurich (half the population of Zurich speaks English) but would agree with you that some of the smaller cities may be more tourist friendly. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit! :hi:

[Heidi]

28. I'm sorry you were left with such a negative impression of the whole country

as a result of your visit to Zurich. Please be assured that not all Swiss locales, nor all Swiss people are "unpleasant, unfriendly people" who "love money."

I've lived here almost a decade and my experience as an American in Switzerland is almost exactly opposite of yours.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. The swiss and their bank secrecy can all go fuck themselves.

They have now been proven to be facilitiaing crimes that sack our economy. Time to pay the piper.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. Switzerland, the nation without a conscience -

As far as I'm concerned, they can kiss my @$$.

[Joe Chi Minh]

16. Bizarre as it may sound, there was an elite Catholic lay organisation who,

I believe as late as the seventies, were having gypsies rounded up. Their children were taken from them permanently.

Here are a couple of links:

http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1203

http://switzerland.isyours.com/e/guide/graubunden/jenisch.html

I seem to remember that they actually performed surgical operations on the brains of some of the adults, to discover the source of their "degeneracy", but I either my mememory is faulty on that, or it has since been hushed up together with all the other stuff under the 100 year secrecy act.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

19. Oh man! They truly are among the world's biggest @$$holes...

If they were a larger country, the rest of the world would be in trouble.

[AndyTiedye]

17. Switzerland Doesn't Invade Other Countries Like We Do

I don't think we are in a very good position to criticize a country that hasn't had a war in over 500 years.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

18. Swiss banks...

Were perfectly fine during the Third Reich with Nazis storing in safety deposit boxes, countless numbers of gold teeth they removed from Jews they exterminated.

As far as I'm concerned, the Swiss can kiss my big fat @$$.

[AndyTiedye]

22. But Much of the Money That Brought the Nazis into Power Came From the US

with the help of one Prescott Bush (W's grandfather).

We have evil bankers too.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar
http://www.rense.com/general40/bushfamilyfundedhitler.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/MDbushPR.htm

[Sarah Ibarruri]

24. I was so sleepy and feeling so ready to cozy up in bed, and then I saw that photo

Now my evening is ruined. :(

[buddysmellgood]

5. Switz would make a great place for a new prison for financial criminals. Just thing of how elaborate

the locks would be. :)

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

6. Let's not forget about USB...

... which bought out WarburgPincus early in the decade and owns the Enron "energy trading software", despite it being deemed a national asset and not to be sold to foreigners. WarburgPincus bought it from Enron, a few months later USB (Union Bank of Switzerland) bought out WarburgPincus. I haven't read any news of this lately, I recall this graphically from when it was in the news cycles.

[MNReformer]

27. Or the Bank of International Settlements in Basle (BIS)....

It's the secretive, inviolable and accountable to no one Bank of International Settlements (BIS) founded in 1930 and based in Basle, Switzerland. This bank most people never heard of is the central banker to its member central banks - a sort of banking "boss of bosses" equivalent to what apparently exists in the shadowy world of Mafia dons. Like most other central banks, including the Federal Reserve (explained below), it's privately owned by its members.

It's believed by some academicians and others who've studied the BIS that the ruling elite of financial capitalism established this bank of banks to be the apex of power to exercise authority over a world financial system owned and controlled by them. It's thought their plan was to use this bank to dominate the political system of every country and control the world economy in a feudalistic fashion. In a word, the thinking goes that these super-elite want to rule the world by controlling its money, and they set up this supranational all-powerful bank of banks to do it. As important as that is, that discussion remains for another time as the intent of this article is to focus solely on the US Federal Reserve.

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2006/06/dirty-secrets-of-temple.html

[curse of greyface]

8. Good fuck them... nt

[closeupready]

12. If they are facilitating evasion of taxes, they are violating treaties they have signed

with us. No excuses.

[Joe Chi Minh]

14. Let's hope so.

[Joe Chi Minh]

15. "that particular piece of legislation is unlikely to see the light of day."

Life is full of surprises. Maybe the author will be in for one. I wonder what the basis of his airy surmise is.

[marshall]

20. Switzerland better get ready to have its ass kicked!

Tax havens will not be tolerated!

[sofa king]

21. I don't think we can kick Switzerland's ass.

We're having trouble in Afghanistan where most of those warrior mountain people actually tolerate us. An invasion of Switzerland would test yet again one of the most efficient decentralized defense forces ever conceived.

Switzerland has managed to maintain its cultural identity and territorial integrity through all of the major European upheavals over the past 600 years, excepting that embarrassing period under Napoleon's thumb from 1798-1815.

[AndyTiedye]

26. Don't Underestimate the Swiss

[High Plains]

23. What a weird outpouring of American nationalism on this thread.

Frankly, I support the Swiss. I don't believe in "financial crimes," except theft. "Money laundering" is such a bullshit charge.

Yeah, go kick some Swiss ass in support of more government intrusions into your privacy.