Swiss lawmakers took a step on Tuesday towards helping the government seal a compromise over banking secrecy rules that would enable it to hand over the names of wealthy Americans suspected of dodging taxes. Famed for the care with which it protects account holders' anonymity, the Alpine state has been forced to act by a series of US probes into alleged tax evasion by Americans concealing their assets in Swiss banks.
Parliament's upper house backed a proposal aimed at sealing any potential legal loopholes and avoiding a lengthy court fight by bank clients seeking to protect their identity. "This step should help negotiations that could free the financial centre from this problem that has plagued it for years," said Free Democrat parliamentarian Felix Gutzwiller.
The proposal, which still has to be voted on by the lower house, would allow Switzerland to hand over data on suspected tax evaders, even if the US tax authorities cannot identify an alleged offender by name or bank account. The Swiss government has been in talks with US authorities for months to try to get an investigation into 11 banks dropped, in return for expected hefty fines on the banks and the handing over of the names. Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and Basler Kantonalbank are among the banks under investigation. Credit Suisse last month took a charge against its third-quarter earnings of 295 million Swiss francs ($315.74 million) towards settling the US investigation.