Wealthy clients in 2016 pulled out almost $30 billion of untaxed assets from three of the world's biggest private banks, UBS, Credit Suisse and Julius Baer, taking advantage of government programmes letting them pay tax on undeclared money. With tax amnesty programmes in countries like Argentina, Brazil and Indonesia, these so-called regularisation outflows come from clients taking money out of their accounts to pay taxes and penalties. Those who decline to participate in amnesty programmes often have to move their accounts.
Swiss banks are still recovering from European and US clients withdrawing tens of billions of dollars following a post-financial crisis clampdown on tax dodging The tax clampdown has eroded Switzerland's bank secrecy rules, which for decades pulled in money from the world's super-rich. UBS and Credit Suisse flagged further withdrawals in 2017 due to these amnesty programmes as well as the introduction of the OECD's Automatic Exchange Of Information, a financial data sharing initiative.
Published under arrangements with Reuters.
No content from Business Recorder shall be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication, or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Business Recorder shall not be responsible or held liable for any error of fact, opinion or recommendation and also for any loss, financial or otherwise, resulting from business or trade or speculation conducted, or investments made, on the basis of the information posted here. Nor shall Business Recorder be held liable for any actions taken in consequence." >Copyright Reuters, 2017