Public outcry “set to topple banking secrecy”
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Switzerland’s prized banking secrecy, already under pressure from multiple countries, faces its biggest threat from public opinion, according to a tax haven expert.
The global economic crisis has triggered a public outcry against tax havens which is here to stay, journalist and author Nicholas Shaxson told swissinfo.ch.
Shaxson believes that Switzerland – and other global tax havens – cannot resist the rising tide of sentiment against the illicit offshore financial system for much longer.
The only question is whether the powerful architects of systems that hide the assets of the wealthy can continue to keep one step ahead of legislators, regulators and the tax man.
swissinfo.ch: What is Switzerland’s role in the global tax haven network?
Nicholas Shaxson: There have been tax havens since the beginning of time and Switzerland has been the global tax haven par excellence for the last couple of centuries.
But the era of globalisation saw the emergence of a more hyperactive Anglo-Saxon version of tax havens. We have different flavours of secrecy, trusts, foundations and all sorts of corporate vehicles that cast a huge cloak of secrecy over assets spread all over the world.
What was once a fairly Swiss-dominated offshore model has now become a global eco-system with Switzerland remaining as an important player.
swissinfo.ch: How serious is the global crackdown on tax havens?
