There is a famous line in the 007 series of films "Black Sun Crisis": "As a spy, Bond only believes in two people: one is himself, the other is a Swiss banker." "It can be seen that the status of Swiss banks, banks all over the world are desperately trying to seduce the rich, Swiss banks are an exception, business tycoons and financial giants rush to deposit money, Swiss banks are also regarded as an excellent place to store wealth in the world."
Without Swiss banks, it is estimated that many Hollywood blockbusters will end in less than half an hour.
Now, though, the world's rich may be afraid.
According to the latest news, the Swiss Federal Tax Agency has basically completed the transfer of relevant offshore customer information to hundreds of countries or regions by the end of 2021.
It is officially announced that Switzerland, the world's largest offshore financial center, has completely changed its attitude and stopped implementing the confidentiality system of bank customer information, which has been continued for hundreds of years.
Swiss bank customers are mostly politicians, business giants, entertainers, in their eyes its trustworthiness is world-famous, attracted by this golden signboard, global funds have flowed into it, making this small country of more than 40,000 square kilometers, the banking industry and its prosperity.
The collapse of secrecy also means that it is no longer safe for Switzerland to hide money for corrupt officials, the rich and other criminals around the world.
What secrets are behind the upheavals in Swiss banks, and how did they come to this point?
Swiss bank is actually a collective term for many Swiss banks, not just one, it includes the most famous UBS Group, Bank of Zurich, First Boston Bank, Credit Suisse and so on.
Since 2014, the SNB has broken through the zero interest rate mark and officially entered the negative interest rate stage of saving fees. That is to say, when saving money in a Swiss bank, not only has no interest, but you have to pay management fees to the bank, and there is a trend of increasing year by year.
Saving money and losing money, why do these smart people still rush in?
There are three main reasons, one is that the property pays the most attention to safety, Switzerland is a permanently neutral country, with strong military combat capabilities, first-class security facilities in the world, good geographical conditions, and is a natural world treasury;
Second, there is strong confidentiality, "money does not ask where it comes from", all laughed at. Unlike other banks, opening a new account or depositing and withdrawing large amounts of cash, identity to be repeatedly confirmed, Swiss banks to maintain the privacy of customers as a primary task, not allowed to disclose information to third parties, violations to be fined, sentenced, in Swiss bank account opening or even allowed to use pseudonyms or numbers to replace, you can also use virtual offices, companies, agencies, etc., the real owner of the property, can never be exposed.
The last point is the tax incentives given by Switzerland to foreigners, although the interest should be posted upside down, but the high inheritance tax in Europe and the United States will not be levied here, which can be called an asset steward specially set up for the rich.
Safety is a double-edged sword.
For Swiss bank customers, it's the best safe and safe haven; but for governments, it's the trickiest hiding place, criticized as a pawn.
Such a practice, naturally to cause trouble, the United States' strongest combat effectiveness of the law enforcement unitS, the Internal Revenue Service can not see it, frequent difficulties, in 2008, the collapse of Lehman Brothers implicated the UBS Group, in 2009, the United States on the grounds that UBS helped the rich Americans evade taxes, the Swiss largest bank UBS Group sued the court. To survive, UBS had to compromise and eventually paid a $780 million fine and provided the United States with the names of 4,450 U.S. customers. Between 2009 and 2012, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy filed lawsuits against Switzerland for international tax evasion.
In 2014, the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act came into effect, and Switzerland was forced to sign the Declaration on the Automatic Exchange of Information on Tax Matters with 46 countries, promising the automatic exchange of interbank information to combat tax evasion and tax fraud.
The plutocrats began to shake their trust in Swiss banks.
In August 2019, under pressure from the international community, Swiss banks were forced to establish formal procedures for the exchange of tax-related information.
As of 11 October 2021, the Swiss Federal Tax Authority has provided financial information on approximately 3.3 million bank accounts to contracting member states.
Even if a Swiss bank is going downhill, it is still the best bank in the world, and it is difficult to find a better one.
Where do you think the next heaven will be?