Swiss Banks Committed To Tax Transparency

Thomas Sutter, Head of Communications at the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA), has reiterated the Swiss banking industry's commitment to enforcing tax compliance and adopting the automatic exchange of information (AEI) as the new international standard.

Swiss financial institutions neither want nor need untaxed foreign wealth; they have drawn lessons from the financial crisis and have since kept pace with their European partners in implementing international standards to ensure that national tax obligations are respected, he said.

The SBA noted that, in 2009, Switzerland agreed to adopt the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tax information exchange standard. Next, the Confederation and its banks pledged to embrace AEI as the new global norm, and Switzerland is actively contributing to the OECD's proposal. Presently, Swiss banks are working with their European clients to regularize past unreported accounts, the SBA confirmed.