View source for Banking in Switzerland

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{{Redirect|Swiss Bank|the former bank and predecessor to UBS|Swiss Bank Corporation|the national bank of Switzerland|Swiss National Bank}}
[[File:Mont Cervin Palace at night in Zermatt.jpg|thumb|upright 1.2|The Mont Cervin Palace in [[Zermatt]]. A hub of tourism, many private banks service the city and maintain underground bunkers and storage facilities for gold at the foothills of the [[Swiss Alps]].]]

'''Banking in Switzerland''' dates to the early 18th century through [[Switzerland]]'s merchant trade and over the centuries has grown into a complex and regulated international industry. Banking is seen as very [[Culture of Switzerland|emblematic of Switzerland]]
and the country has been one of the largest, if not largest, [[offshore financial centers]] and [[tax haven]]s in the world since the mid-20th century, with a long history of banking secrecy, security and client confidentiality reaching back to the early 1700s. Starting as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934 with the passage of a landmark federal law, the [[Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks]]. These laws were used to protect assets of persons being persecuted by [[Nazi Germany|Nazi authorities]] but have also been used by people and institutions seeking to [[Tax evasion|illegally evade taxes]], hide assets, or to commit other [[financial crime]].<ref name=":6">Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018), p. 3</ref><ref name=":7">{{cite journal|author=Mueller, Kurt|year=1969|title=The Swiss Banking Secret: From a Legal View|journal=The International and Comparative Law Quarterly|volume=18|issue=2|pages=361–362|doi=10.1093/iclqaj/18.2.360|jstor=757529}}</ref>

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Controversial protection of foreign accounts and assets during [[World War II]] sparked a series of proposed financial regulations seeking to limit bank secrecy, but with little resulting action. Despite [[List of Swiss banking legislation|various international efforts]] to roll back banking secrecy laws in the country which were largely minimized or reverted by Swiss social and political forces, in 2017 Switzerland agreed to "automatic exchange of information" (AEOI) with foreign governments and their revenue services regarding information of depositors not resident in Switzerland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Automatic exchange of information (AEOI) |url=https://www.swissbanking.ch/en/topics/tax/automatic-exchange-of-information-aeoi |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=Swiss Bankers Association |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=SIF |first=State Secretariat for International Finance |title=Automatic exchange of information on financial accounts |url=https://www.sif.admin.ch/sif/en/home/multilateral/steuer_informationsaust/automatischer-informationsaustausch/automatischer-informationsaustausch1.html |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=sif.admin.ch |language=en}}</ref> This constituted ''de facto'' the end of Swiss banking secrecy for depositors who were not Swiss residents.<ref name="foreignbanks" /> Furthermore, after Switzerland ratified the [[Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act]] agreement with the United States, because of concerns regarding their tax liability (the U.S. taxes its citizens regardless of whether they are resident in the U.S. or not) some Swiss banks have gone so far as to close accounts held by US citizens, and to ban the opening of new accounts by US citizens and by dual US-Swiss citizens, including those deemed lawful permanent Swiss residents.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Balestriere |first=John G. |date=2021-03-19 |title=Americans And Swiss Banks |url=https://abovethelaw.com/2021/03/americans-and-swiss-banks/ |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=Above the Law}}</ref> Thus banking secrecy remains in force only for those residing in and solely taxable in Switzerland.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nathaniel |first=Peter |date=19 May 2023 |title=Swiss banking: a damaged brand |url=https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/finance/swiss-banking-a-damaged-brand/ |access-date=26 August 2023 |website=IMD}}</ref>

Disclosing client information has been considered by Switzerland a criminal offence since the early 1900s. Employees working in Switzerland and at Swiss banks abroad have "long adhered to an unwritten code similar to that [[Non-disclosure agreement|observed by doctors or priests]]".<ref name="Thomasson-2013" /> Since 1934 Swiss banking secrecy laws have been violated to a major extent by only four people, namely: [[Christoph Meili]] (1997), [[Bradley Birkenfeld]] (2007), [[Rudolf Elmer]] (2011) and [[Hervé Falciani]] (2014).{{fact|date=June 2025}}

The [[Swiss Bankers Association]] (SBA) estimated in 2018 that Swiss banks held [[US$]]6.5 trillion in assets or 25% of all global cross-border assets. Switzerland's main lingual hubs, [[Geneva]] (for French), [[Lugano]] (for Italian), and [[Zürich]] (for German) service the different geographical markets. It currently ranks number two behind the United States and on par with [[Singapore]] in the [[Financial Secrecy Index]].<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b"/> The banks are regulated by the [[Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority]] (FINMA) and the [[Swiss National Bank]] (SNB) which derives its authority from a series of federal statutes. Banking in Switzerland has historically played, and still continues to play, a dominant role in the [[Swiss economy]] and society. According to the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD), total banking assets amount to 467% of total gross domestic product.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b">[[#Bibliography|Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018)]], p. 2</ref> Banking in Switzerland [[#In popular culture|has been portrayed]], with varying degrees of accuracy, in overall popular culture and television shows.

Switzerland's credibility as a banking centre was hurt in 2023 after the collapse of [[Credit Suisse]], one of the largest Swiss banks, which was subsequently acquired by its Swiss competitor [[UBS]]. However, the rapid action taken by the [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal Council]], the [[Swiss National Bank]], and FINMA helped to minimise further damage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Credit Suisse collapse: consequences and open questions |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/credit-suisse-collapse-consequences-and-open-questions/48375346 |website=Swissinfo |date=20 March 2023 |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Credit Suisse: the rise and fall of the bank that built modern Switzerland |url=https://www.ft.com/content/072dd83d-232d-4223-9428-801d4437b4f6 |access-date=6 July 2024 |publisher=Financial Times |date=6 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Credit Suisse collapse threatens Switzerland's wealth management crown |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/credit-suisse-collapse-threatens-switzerlands-wealth-management-crown-2023-03-22/ |access-date=6 July 2024 |publisher=Reuters |date=22 March 2023}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:DV307_no.80_From_Vile_Rousean,_Geneva_Aug_4_1858.png|thumb|Many Swiss banking practices, including secrecy, trace their origins to [[Geneva]] in the 18th century.]]

[[Bank secrecy]] in [[History of Switzerland#Early history|the Swiss region]] can be traced<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b"/> to the [[Great Council of Geneva]], which outlawed the disclosure of information about the [[Aristocracy (class)|European upper class]] in 1713.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> During the 1780s, Swiss bank accounts began [[Deposit insurance|insuring deposits]], which contributed to their reputation for [[Economic security|financial security]].<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> In 1815, the [[Congress of Vienna]] formally established [[Swiss neutrality|Switzerland's international neutrality]], which led to a large capital influx.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> The wealthy, [[landlocked]] Switzerland saw banking secrecy as a way to build an empire similar to that of [[Second French Empire|France]], [[Spain]], and [[British Empire|the United Kingdom]].<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> Swiss historian Sébastian Guex notes in ''The Origins of Secret Swiss Bank Accounts'':

{{Blockquote|This is what the Swiss bourgeoisie are thinking: "That's our future. We will play on the contradictions between the European powers and, protected by the shield of our neutrality, our arm will be industry and finance."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Guex |first=Sébastian |date=March 3, 2015 |title=The Origins of Secret Swiss Bank Accounts |url=https://daily.jstor.org/origins-secret-swiss-bank-accounts/ |work=JSTOR Daily |access-date=May 18, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>}}

After [[Sonderbund War|a small scale civil war]] in the 1840s between the [[Swiss cantons]], the [[Switzerland|Swiss Federation]] was founded in 1848.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> The formation of the state, through a [[direct democracy]], contributed to the political stability needed for banking secrecy.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> The [[Geography of Switzerland|mountainous terrain of Switzerland]] provided a natural environment in which to excavate [[#Bank vaults and bunkers|underground vaults]] for storage of gold and diamonds.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> In the 1910s, during [[World War I]], Swiss bankers traveled to France to advertise the country's banking secrecy. According to Sébastien Guex, the banks printed "brochures, circulars, personalised letters, and advertising in newspapers, and sent representatives who approached their clientele in person".<ref name="Atossa1">{{Cite news |title='Here lives the monster's brain': the man who exposed Switzerland's dirty secret |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/feb/13/here-lives-the-monsters-brain-the-man-who-exposed-switzerlands-dirty-secrets |last=Abrahamian |first=Atossa Araxia |date=13 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |access-date=12 March 2025}}</ref><ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> The war's contribution to political and economic instability sparked a rapid capital movement into Switzerland.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> As France and Germany introduced [[Progressive tax|progressive income and inheritance taxes]] for the first time, taxing greater wealth at higher rates<ref name="Atossa1" /> to [[War bond|finance the war]], wealthy clients moved their holdings into Swiss accounts to avoid taxation.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> The French banked in Geneva, the Italians in [[Lugano]], and the Germans in [[Zürich]].<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" />

The [[Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks]], colloquially known as the Banking Law of 1934, made the violation of banking secrecy a federal criminal offence.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /><ref name="FSI-2022">{{Cite journal |date=2022 |title=Financial Secrecy Index |url=https://fsi.taxjustice.net/ |journal=Financial Secrecy Index |publisher=Tax Justice Network |page=3}}</ref> That major step beyond the prior enforcement of banking secrecy under civil law resulted from several developments of the early 1930s, including the introduction in the same legislation of an embryonic form of banking supervision, which Swiss bankers argued could endanger secrecy; evolving jurisprudence of the [[Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland|Federal Supreme Court]]; and a 1932 campaign against tax evasion in France led by [[Édouard Herriot]]'s government,<ref name=Guex/> following a financial scandal that erupted in France in that year, involving thousands of wealthy French citizens and the Commercial Bank of Basel (Banque commerciale de Bâle–BCB). In a hotel apartment in Paris, the police discovered that the director and other officials of the aforementioned Swiss bank were providing information to important members of the French financial elite on how to transfer their money to Switzerland, in order to obtain untaxed returns.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1932: The Tax Fraud Affair and the Herriot Government |url=https://shs.cairn.info/journal-l-economie-politique-2007-1-page-89?lang=en |website=Cairn.info |last=Guex |first=Sébastien |access-date=13 March 2025}}</ref> Alleged wealthy French tax evaders included [[General officer|military generals]] and [[Catholic bishops]].<ref name="Komisar">{{cite news|url=http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=505|title=Offshore banking, the secret threat to America|author=Komisar, Lucy|date=Spring 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723090853/http://dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=505|archive-date=July 23, 2012|url-status=dead|work=[[Dissent (American magazine)|Dissent]]}}</ref> An additional [[Amendment|provision]], Article 47(b), was drafted before its ratification to [[Nazi plunder|protect Jewish assets]] from the Nazi party.<ref name="FSI-2022" /><ref name="Mueller-1969">{{cite journal|author=Mueller, Kurt|year=1969|title=The Swiss Banking Secret: From a Legal View|journal=The International and Comparative Law Quarterly|volume=18|issue=2|pages=361–362|doi=10.1093/iclqaj/18.2.360|jstor=757529}}</ref>

[[File:Landscape Arnisee-region.JPG|left|thumb|Switzerland's [[Geography of Switzerland|mountainous terrain]] helps to store gold in [[Bunker|underground bunkers]].]]

During [[World War II]], Switzerland remained diplomatically neutral but its economy and financial system served the [[Axis powers]] by storing gold and cash balances in underground vaults,<ref name="FSI-2022" /> buying gold from the Nazi German state, and lending to both Germany and Italy, thus supporting their aggressive endeavors.<ref name=Guex>{{Cite journal|last=Guex|first=Sébastien|year=2000|title=The Origins of the Swiss Banking Secrecy Law and Its Repercussions for Swiss Federal Policy|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/300378/files/S0007680500074250.pdf|journal=[[Business History Review]]|volume=74|number=2|pages=237–266|jstor=3116693|doi=10.2307/3116693|s2cid=154917222}}</ref> [[Adolf Hitler]] maintained an account at the [[Union Bank of Switzerland]] (UBS) estimated at {{Reichsmark|1.1 billion|link=yes}}.<ref name="FSI-2022" /><ref name="Boggan-1996">{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/discovered-hitlers-secret-swiss-bank-account-1361935.html|title=Discovered: Hitler's secret Swiss bank account|last=Boggan|first=Steve|date=September 5, 1996|work=The Independent|access-date=May 18, 2018|language=en-GB|quote=Declassified intelligence documents at the US National Archives show that one of Hitler's closest confidantes opened the accounts at the Union Bank of Switzerland in Bern after the Fuhrer's book became required reading in German schools.}}</ref> After the United States formally asked the bank to transfer the money in the 1990s, UBS wired [[US$]]400 to 700 million worth of Reichsmarks to U.S. authorities.<ref name="FSI-2022" /> [[List of Swiss financial market legislation|Banking regulations in Switzerland]] limit the amount of [[Account (bookkeeping)|orphaned assets]] allowed to leave a bank's custody.<ref name="FSI-2022" /> UBS, with consent from the [[Swiss government]], [[Asset freezing|froze the account]] containing Hitler's assets indefinitely, and clipped the Reichsmarks, stripping the currency of value.<ref name="Boggan-1996" /> During [[World War II]], UBS also maintained accounts for hundreds of [[German Jewish]] businesspeople and households.<ref name="Mueller-1969" /> After the Banking Law of 1934 was passed, the bank aggressively protected assets of the "[[Enemy of the state|enemies of Nazi Germany]]".<ref name="Mueller-1969" /> When Hitler announced an (aborted) [[Operation Tannenbaum|invasion of Switzerland]] in 1940,{{dubious|date=December 2018}} UBS contracted the [[Swiss Armed Forces]] to blockade their [[retail banks]] and transport Jewish assets to underground military bunkers.<ref name="Schutz-2000">{{Cite book|title=The Fall of UBS: The Forces that Brought Down Switzerland's Biggest Bank|last=Schütz|first=Dirk|date=2000|publisher=Pyramid Media Group|isbn=9780944188200}}</ref> The [[Swiss Bank Corporation]] (SBC) and [[Credit Suisse]], did likewise.<ref name="FSI-2022" /> However, after the war, many of these account holders had been killed in the Holocaust, and their heirs often lacked the documentation required to claim the accounts. For decades, Swiss banks were accused of failing to return the money to rightful heirs, destroying records or placing excessive bureaucratic obstacles in the way of claims, and profiting from dormant accounts. This ended when the [[Volcker Commission]] reached a paltry $1.25 billion settlement with the victims.<ref name="HVAL">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date= 2006|title= Overview of Litigation and Settlement|url= https://www.swissbankclaims.com/Overview.aspx.html|website= Swiss Banks Settlement:In re Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation US District Court for Eastern District of NY|location= US|publisher= Holocaust Victims Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks)|access-date=2025-10-08}}</ref>

===World War II and beyond===
After the end of [[World War II]], Switzerland and its financial system benefited greatly from having remained unharmed while all the neighbouring economies were devastated, but had to face the reputational damage from its support to the Axis powers, which also led to threats to banking secrecy as the Allied victors sought to expropriate Nazi assets held under Swiss custody. By and large, the Swiss banking sector was able to successfully deflect the threat to its secrecy practices, not least as it supported France and the United Kingdom with significant lending.<ref name=Guex/> When British politician [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]] blamed "[[gnomes of Zurich]]" for a weak pound sterling in 1964, Swiss bankers began using the title as proof of their financial skill and adherence to secrecy.<ref name="bowlby20100225">{{Cite web |last=Bowlby |first=Chris |date=2010-02-25 |title=No ordinary gnomes |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8534936.stm |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=BBC}}</ref> Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, numerous international proposals for bank secrecy rollbacks were made by foreign states with little success.<ref name="FSI-2022" />
[[File:Telldenkmal.jpg|thumb|International pressure to roll back banking secrecy is seen as an attack on [[Culture of Switzerland|Swiss culture and values]]. The [[Swiss parliament]] expressed an interest in adopting banking secrecy into [[Swiss Federal Constitution|their constitution]] in 2017.]]

After the [[2008 financial crisis]], Switzerland signed the European Union [[Savings Directive]] (EUSD) which obliges Swiss banks to report to [[Member state of the European Union|43 European countries]] non-identifying annual tax statistics.<ref name="FSI-2018c">[[#Bibliography|Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018)]], p. 5</ref> On December 3, 2008, the [[Federal Assembly (Switzerland)|Federal Assembly]] increased the prison sentence for violations of banking secrecy from a maximum of six months to five years.<ref name="Neghaiwi-2017">{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-banking-secrecy-exclusive/exclusive-swiss-prosecutors-seek-widening-of-secrecy-law-to-bankers-abroad-idUSKBN1D01CI|title=Exclusive: Swiss prosecutors seek widening of secrecy law to...|last=Neghaiwi|first=Brenna Hughes|date=October 31, 2017|work=Reuters|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref> In late 2008, after an international, multi-state [[UBS tax evasion controversies#Birkenfeld Disclosure: 2007|investigation]] into Switzerland's role in U.S. tax evasion, UBS entered into a limited, [[deferred prosecution agreement]] (DPA) with the U.S. [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]].<ref name="FSI-2018d">[[#Bibliography|Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018)]], p. 4</ref> The agreement initiated the landmark [[Bradley Birkenfeld|Birkenfeld Disclosure]] of information on more than 4,000 clients.<ref name="FSI-2018d" />
{{quote box
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| quote = If there is anything the Swiss take more seriously than the precision of [[Swiss made|their watches]] or the quality of [[Swiss chocolate|their chocolate]], it's the secrecy of their banks.
| source = [[Steve Kroft]], host of ''Banking: A Crack In the Swiss Vault''<ref name="Kroft">{{Cite journal|last=Kroft|first=Steve|date=August 15, 2010|title=Banking: A Crack In the Swiss Vault|journal=1|publication-date=May 13, 2018|via=CBS}}</ref>}}

In November 2013, the [[Zürcher Kantonalbank]] was classified as a systemically important bank in Switzerland by order of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), alongside [[UBS]], [[Credit Suisse]], [[Raiffeisen (Switzerland)]] and [[PostFinance]], and must meet stricter capital requirements and prepare contingency plans for times of crisis.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/snb-zkb-idUKWEB00DSJ20131111|title=SNB classifies ZKB as systemically important bank|date=November 11, 2022|newspaper=Reuters|access-date=July 5, 2022}}</ref> In another step toward loosening banking secrecy, Switzerland signed the U.S. [[Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act]] (FATCA), after rejecting it twice in parliament.<ref name="FSI-2018d" /> The FATCA requires Swiss banks to disclose non-identifying U.S. client information annually to the [[Internal Revenue Service]].<ref name="FSI-2018d" /> The agreement does not guarantee the semi-automatic information transfers, which remain at the discretion of Swiss government authorities.<ref name="Song-2015">{{cite web|url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1791&context=njilb|title=The End of Secret Swiss Accounts?: The Impact of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) on Switzerland's Status as a Haven for Off Shore Accounts|last=Song|first=Jane|date=November 1, 2015|website=Northwestern University|access-date=March 18, 2018}}</ref> If a client does not consent to having their information shared with the IRS, Swiss law prohibits the disclosure.<ref name="Song-2015" /> If a client does consent, Swiss banks send the IRS tax-related information about the account holder but are prohibited from disclosing identities pursuant to Article 47 of the Banking Law of 1934.<ref name="Song-2015" /> The 2018 [[Financial Secrecy Index]] stated: "this [does] not mean that Swiss banking secrecy was finished, as some excitable news reports suggest... the breach was a partial [dent]".<ref name="FSI-2018e">Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018), p. 4</ref>

In March 2015, the Swiss government entered into bilateral "Rubik Agreements" with Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom allowing foreign holders of Swiss bank accounts to retain their anonymity in exchange for paying predetermined [[back taxes]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/international/2012/02/11/dont-ask-wont-tell|title=Don't ask, won't tell|date=February 12, 2016|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=May 20, 2018}}</ref> Switzerland adopted the International Convention on the Automatic Exchange of Banking Information ([[Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes#Automatic Exchange of Information|AEOI]]) in 2017, agreeing to automatically release limited financial information to certain countries for the sole purpose of [[Income tax audit|tax auditing]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/end-of-banking-secrecy-in-switzerland/article5237870.ece|title=End of banking secrecy in Switzerland|last=Naravane|first=Vaiju|date=October 10, 2016|work=The Hindu|access-date=May 18, 2018|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> This agreement includes the [[Common Reporting Standard]] (CRS) which obliges Swiss banks to automatically send foreign tax authorities the client's name, address, [[Domicile (law)|domicile]], tax number, date of birth, account number, account balance at years end, and the [[Gross income|gross investment income]].<ref name="SWI-2017">{{Cite news|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/tax-evasion_swiss-say-goodbye-to-banking-secrecy-/42799134|title=Swiss say goodbye to banking secrecy|date=January 1, 2017|work=SWI swissinfo.ch|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref> The CRS does not, however, override the Swiss Banking Law of 1934, so the client's expenses (withdrawals) and investments are not disclosed.<ref name="FSI-2018e"/> Thus tax authorities cannot "go fishing" for tax evaders, they must directly link a financial crime to the client's account.<ref name="FSI-2018e" /> The disclosed information can ''only'' be used for tax auditing and Swiss authorities may prevent disclosure.<ref name="Beyeler-2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.moneyland.ch/en/swiss-bank-secrecy|title=Swiss Bank Secrecy: The Facts|website=moneyland.ch|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref>

In December 2017, the Swiss parliament launched a standing initiative and expressed an interest in formally embedding banking secrecy within the [[Swiss Constitution]], making it a federally-protected [[constitutional right]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/-private-sphere-_parliament--don-t-touch-banking-secrecy-for-swiss-clients/43748818|title=Parliament: don't touch banking secrecy for Swiss clients|work=SWI swissinfo.ch|access-date=May 19, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2014/07/swiss-bank-secrecy|title=Swiss bank secrecy: a whistleblower's woes|last=M.V.|date=July 19, 2014|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=May 18, 2018|quote=The American-led attack on the Gnomes of Zurich has produced a backlash: a right-wing party has almost collected enough signatures to force a referendum on whether to strengthen constitutional support for financial secrecy. Swiss bankers who spill the beans continue to do so at their peril.}}</ref> In January 2018, a [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York|U.S. district court]] ruled that Swiss bankers "[have] nothing to do with the choice that an American taxpayer makes to not declare offshore assets", later clarifying they should not be seen as facilitating tax evasion but rather provide a legal service that is made illegal by the client.<ref name="Enrich-2018">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/06/business/stefan-buck-tax-evasion.html|title=A Swiss Banker Helped Americans Dodge Taxes. Was It a Crime?|last=Enrich|first=David|date=January 6, 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=May 20, 2018|quote=Several hunkered down in Switzerland, which refused to extradite its citizens to the United States for actions that weren't illegal in Switzerland. None had actually gone on trial.}}</ref> The [[Swiss Justice Ministry]] announced in March 2018 that disclosure of client information in a pending [[court case]] involving a Swiss bank is subject to federal [[espionage]] and [[extortion]] charges in addition to charges relating to banking secrecy laws.<ref name="Reuters-2018">{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-switzerland-espionage-germans/swiss-charge-three-germans-in-bank-secrecy-clash-idUSKBN1GX1GO|title=Swiss charge three Germans in bank secrecy clash|date=March 21, 2018|work=Reuters|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref>

After a serious crisis, on 19 March 2023, following negotiations with the [[Swiss government]], UBS announced its intent to [[Acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS|acquire Credit Suisse]] for $3.25 billion (CHF 3 billion) in order to prevent the bank's collapse.<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 March 2023 |title=UBS agrees $3.25bn rescue deal for rival Credit Suisse |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/9fe40e6a-f01f-4205-b885-7771d305721e |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=19 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319201122/https://www.ft.com/content/9fe40e6a-f01f-4205-b885-7771d305721e |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/ubs-offers-1-billion-to-take-over-credit-suisse-bfac51fa |title=UBS Agrees to Buy Credit Suisse for More Than $3 Billion |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=19 April 2023 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=19 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319164147/https://www.wsj.com/articles/ubs-offers-1-billion-to-take-over-credit-suisse-bfac51fa |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=swissinfo.ch/mga |title=Credit Suisse agrees to CHF3bn takeover by rival Swiss bank UBS |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/credit-suisse-agrees-to-takeover-by-rival-swiss-bank-ubs/48373120 |access-date=20 March 2023 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |date=19 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref> UBS completed the acquisition in June 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last=Halftermeyer |first=Marion |date=11 June 2023 |title=UBS Completes Credit Suisse Takeover to Create Swiss Bank Titan |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-12/ubs-completes-credit-suisse-takeover-to-create-swiss-bank-titan |work=Bloomberg News}}</ref>

== Banking and the Swiss economy==
{{Main|Economy of Switzerland}}
[[File:BIZ Basel.jpg|thumb|Worldwide headquarters of the [[Bank for International Settlements]] in [[Basel]]]]
Switzerland is a prosperous nation with a [[List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita|per capita gross domestic product]] higher than that of most [[Western European]] nations. The value of the [[Swiss franc]] (CHF) has been relatively stable compared with that of many others. [[Swiss neutrality]] and [[national sovereignty]], long recognized by foreign nations, have fostered a stable environment for the banking sector to develop and thrive. Switzerland maintained neutrality through both [[World War]]s, is not a member of the [[European Union]] or [[NATO]], and did not join the [[United Nations]] until 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/switzerland/|title=The World Factbook – Switzerland – Introduction|date=2006-06-13|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency <!--DASHBot-->|access-date=2010-06-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17980650|title=Country profile: Switzerland|date=2006-03-26|access-date=2006-06-17|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714050123/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1035212.stm|archive-date=14 July 2006 <!--DASHBot-->|work=BBC News}}</ref> The [[Bank of International Settlements]] (BIS), an organization that facilitates cooperation among the world's [[central bank]]s, is headquartered in [[Basel]]. Founded in 1930, the BIS chose to locate in Switzerland because of the [[Neutrality (international relations)|country's neutrality]], which was important to the organization founded by countries that had been enemies in World War I.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bis.org/about/origins.htm|title=Origins: Why Basel?|publisher=Bank of International Settlements|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615080638/http://www.bis.org/about/origins.htm|archive-date=15 June 2006 <!--DASHBot-->|access-date=2006-06-16}}</ref>

Banking has played a dominant role in the [[Swiss economy]] for two centuries.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> According to the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD), total banking assets amount to 467% of total gross domestic product.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" />

Swiss banks managed $2.4 trillion (CHF2.1 trillion) of assets belonging to wealthy foreigners in 2022, more than any other country and before Hong Kong ($2.2T) or Singapore ($1.5T) who are ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively, according to the study conducted by the [[Boston Consulting Group]].<ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2023 e742">{{cite web | title=Switzerland clings on as world's top offshore wealth centre | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2023-06-27 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/switzerland-clings-on-as-world-s-top-offshore-wealth-centre/48621870 | access-date=2023-06-29}}</ref>

===Origin of funds===
{{see also|Swiss Leaks|Suisse Secrets|Paradise Papers|Panama Papers|Pandora Papers}}

Most of the wealth from overseas in Switzerland originates in [[Germany]], [[France]] and [[Saudi Arabia]] (2018).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/international-money-_switzerland-remains-biggest-offshore-wealth-centre-/44193170 |title = Switzerland remains biggest offshore wealth centre| date=15 June 2018}}</ref> According to the [[Swiss Bankers Association]] in 2022, the amount held by [[Switzerland-Russia relations#Trade|Russian]] clients in Swiss banks is between [[Swiss franc|CHF]]150 and CHF200 billion ($160 and $214 billion).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/russian-clients-have-up-chf200-billion-in-swiss-banks/47433244 |title=Russian clients have up to CHF200 billion in Swiss banks |date=2022-03-15 |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=swissinfo}}</ref> The holding of the [[Rothschild dynasty|Rothschilds]] assets is located in [[Zurich]], said by insiders to be worth "trillions" according to [[The Independent (UK)]] journal.<ref name="k860">{{cite web | last=Vallely | first=Paul | title=Independent Online Edition > This Britain | website=news.independent.co.uk | date=2004-04-16 | url=https://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article56239.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060115031554/https://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article56239.ece | archive-date=2006-01-15 | url-status=dead | access-date=2025-11-08}}</ref><ref name="r173">{{cite web | last=Clark | first=Sophie | title=Who are the Rothschilds, and how much are they worth today? | website=Newsweek | date=2024-11-29 | url=https://www.newsweek.com/rothschild-family-companies-net-worth-1993369 | access-date=2025-11-08}}</ref>

==Regulation==
{{Main|Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks#Revisions}}
The [[Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority]] (FINMA) is a public law institution that supervises most banking-related activities as well as [[securities market]]s and [[investment fund]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.finma.ch/e/finma/Pages/Ziele.aspx|title=About FINMA|publisher=Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121125233826/http://www.finma.ch/e/finma/Pages/Ziele.aspx|archive-date=2012-11-25|access-date=2009-09-04}}</ref> Regulatory authority is derived from the Swiss Financial Market Supervision Act (FINMASA) and Article 98 of the Swiss Federal Constitution. The office of the Swiss Banking [[Ombudsman]], founded in 1993, is sponsored by the Swiss Banking Ombudsman Foundation, which was established by the [[Swiss Bankers Association]]. The ombudsman's services, which are offered free of charge, include [[mediation]] and assistance to persons searching for dormant assets. The ombudsman handles about 1,500 complaints raised against banks yearly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bankingombudsman.ch/english/index.htm|title=Swiss Banking Ombudsman|publisher=Swiss Banking Ombudsman|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720075748/http://www.bankingombudsman.ch/english/index.htm|archive-date=2006-07-20|access-date=2006-06-17}}</ref> Generally speaking, lawyers will not work against the banks and regulators are "too weak" to act in case of a problem, according to the ''[[Financial Times]]'' of London.<ref name="Jones Times 2023 u136">{{cite web | last1=Jones | first1=Sam | last2=Times | first2=Financial | title=How a couple lost a fortune in an alleged Swiss banking fraud | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2023-10-16 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/how-a-couple-lost-a-fortune-in-an-alleged-swiss-banking-fraud/48893918 | access-date=2023-10-16}}</ref>
<!--Keep short: meant to quickly summarize main article: list of Swiss financial market regulation. -->

===Automatic exchange of tax information===
{{See also|Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act|Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters}}

In February 2013, the [[Swiss Federal Council]] allowed the signing of the [[Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act]] (FATCA) with the US. These agreements force all Swiss banks to inform the [[Internal Revenue Service]] of undeclared, offshore accounts. These new regulations are applicable from 2014, and in turn assure Swiss banks of continued operations within the US.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.blick.ch/news/wirtschaft/schweiz-und-usa-unterzeichnen-abkommen-zum-us-steuergesetz-fatca-id2204559.html| title = Das Abkommen zwischen der Schweiz und den USA zum US-Steuergesetz FATCA ist unterzeichnet.}} (in German). ''Blick.com Wirtschaft''. Retrieved 26 May 2013.</ref>

In July 2019, the [[US Senate]] approved the [[Double Taxation Treaty]] (DTA) with Switzerland, which had already been accepted by the Swiss parliament in 2010. The new agreement, applicable to accounts from September 23, 1999, onward, amends the tax treaty of 1996 and regulates requests for information on financial accounts by US authorities, as well as exemptions for retirement savings by US persons.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.thelocal.ch/20190718/us-signs-off-on-milestone-double-taxation-treaty-with-switzerland| title = "US signs off on 'milestone' double taxation treaty with Switzerland"| date = 18 July 2019}}. ''The Local.ch.'' Retrieved 5 August 2019.</ref>

Starting in 2019, Switzerland began to share (with the country of origin or residence) the details of 3.1 million bank accounts held by foreigners, as part of the agreed automatic exchange of information.<ref name="swiss">{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/automatic-exchange-_switzerland-shares-details-of-3.1-million-bank-accounts-held-by-foreigners/45280918 | title=Switzerland shares details of 3.1 million bank accounts held by foreigners| date=7 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/financial-transparency_switzerland-in-the-age-of-automatic-exchange-of-banking-information/45234706 |title = Switzerland in the age of automatic exchange of banking information| date=17 September 2019}}</ref> Swiss banks, insurance companies and trusts have a legal obligation to comply but charitable Swiss foundations are so far exempt.<ref name="swiss"/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.efc.be/news-post/swiss-federal-council-refrains-from-making-charitable-foundations-subject-to-the-automatic-exchange-of-information-aeoi/|title = EFC-Swiss Federal Council refrains from making charitable foundations subject to the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI)|date = 20 November 2019|access-date = 21 April 2020|archive-date = 22 October 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211022135031/https://www.efc.be/news-post/swiss-federal-council-refrains-from-making-charitable-foundations-subject-to-the-automatic-exchange-of-information-aeoi/|url-status = dead}}</ref> As of 2019, Switzerland received financial data from 75 countries and shared data with 63 (over 100 countries starting in 2023) representing 3.6 million accounts as of 2023. Around 9000 banks, insurers, trusts and other financial institutions in Switzerland provide this information to the Swiss authorities.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/automatic-exchange-_switzerland-grants-18-more-countries-access-to-bank-details/45424544 | title=Switzerland grants 18 more countries access to bank details| date=10 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/switzerland-exchanges-tax-data-with-96-states/47018334| title = Switzerland exchanges tax data with 96 states - SWI swissinfo.ch| date = 11 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2023 b634">{{cite web | title=Switzerland Set to Extend Sharing of Banking Information | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2023-10-09 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-set-to-extend-sharing-of-banking-information-/48874650 | access-date=2023-10-10}}</ref><ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2023 z191">{{cite web | title=Switzerland shares information on financial accounts with 104 countries | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2023-10-09 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-shares-information-on-financial-accounts-with-104-countries/48873844 | access-date=2023-10-10}}</ref>

===Loopholes===
{{see also|Crime in Switzerland#Money laundering|Suisse secrets|Panama papers}}

Swiss banks are obliged to reject or terminate business relationships if there are doubts about the real identity of the owner of the account.<ref name="26SWI swissinfo.ch 2023">{{cite web | title=Four bankers who helped Putin's friend set up Swiss bank account convicted | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2023-03-30 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/four-bankers-who-helped-putin-s-friend-set-up-swiss-bank-account-convicted/48404704 | access-date=2023-03-31}}</ref> Swiss banks have a legal obligation to record the ultimate [[beneficial owner]]s of all assets they handle worldwide, but doing so accurately can be tricky [[Offshore financial centre|in jurisdictions where it is easy for third parties to mask who the owners are]].<ref name="Long shadow of Russian money raises">{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/long-shadow-of-russian-money-raises-tricky-questions-for-swiss-bankers/47687348 | title=Long shadow of Russian money raises tricky questions for Swiss bankers | date=20 June 2022}}</ref> Thus, [[loophole]]s exist through the use of [[shell companies]], [[trust fund]]s, and [[wikt:proxy|proxy]] directors signing the paperwork without owning the assets.<ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2022">{{cite web | title=Is Switzerland doing enough to freeze Russian assets? | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=18 May 2022 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/is-switzerland-doing-enough-to-freeze-russian-assets-/47597540 | access-date=19 May 2022}}</ref>

Similarly, the use of a "[[straw man (law)|straw man]]" or a family member is a way also to hide the true beneficial ownership in some cases.<ref name="Switzerland's secrecy blind spot hi">{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-s-secrecy-blind-spot-hinders-sanctions-enforcement/48594038 | title=Switzerland's secrecy blind spot hinders sanctions enforcement | date=23 June 2023}}</ref>

Loopholes exist also with people with [[multiple citizenship|multiple nationalities]] who only declare one citizenship to the authorities [[#Automatic exchange of tax information|for the purpose of tax reporting]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-03/yes-you-can-still-hide-bank-accounts-offshore | title=Yes, You Can Still Hide Bank Accounts Offshore | newspaper=Bloomberg.com | date=3 December 2021}}</ref>

Another loophole consists (for US citizens) in setting up [[shell companies]] abroad and registering them with the [[IRS]] as "offshore financial institutions". The IRS issues the entities unique Global Intermediary Identification Numbers, or GIINs, which relieve the banks of [[FATCA]]'s requirement to investigate whether they're held by Americans. This loophole was allegedly used by billionaire [[Robert Brockman]] to [[Tax avoidance|avoid taxation]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/offshore-tax-loophole-helps-americans-cheat-irs--senate-says/47849558 | title=Offshore Tax Loophole Helps Americans Cheat IRS, Senate Says | date=24 August 2022 | access-date=24 August 2022 | archive-date=24 August 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824155021/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/offshore-tax-loophole-helps-americans-cheat-irs--senate-says/47849558 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

The banking systems of Switzerland and [[Liechtenstein]] have close ties. Liechtenstein's trust companies are clients of Swiss banks. Liechtenstein does not require [[trust companies]] to identify people with signatory powers, and does not prosecute [[tax evasion]] or [[tax fraud]] (2000).<ref name="SWI234 swissinfo.ch 2000">{{cite web | title=Swiss banks fear fall-out from Liechtenstein scandal | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2000-05-22 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-banks-fear-fall-out-from-liechtenstein-scandal/1495038 | access-date=2023-06-09}}</ref>

To improve the tracking down and freezing of assets, Swiss NGO [[Public Eye (organization)|Public Eye]] has called for a national task force, a register of the [[beneficial owner]]s of [[front companies]] and a reporting obligation for lawyers.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/small-rise-in-russian-assets-frozen-in-switzerland/47739794 | title=Small rise in Russian assets frozen in Switzerland | date=9 July 2022}}</ref> The [[Tax Justice Network]] and [[FATF]]<ref name="Switzerland's secrecy blind spot hi"/> made similar recommendations in 2018, including breaking up the [[Big Four accounting firms]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://financialsecrecyindex.com/introduction/next-steps |title=What is being done? |work=[[Financial Secrecy Index]] |publisher=[[Tax Justice Network]] |date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102122304/https://financialsecrecyindex.com/introduction/next-steps |accessdate=2022-08-13 |archive-date=2019-01-02 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="h358">{{cite web | last=Ruche | first=Sébastien | title=La Suisse doit soumettre les avocats et fiduciaires à la loi sur le blanchiment d’argent, rappelle le GAFI | website=Le Temps | date=2023-11-03 | url=https://www.letemps.ch/economie/finance/la-suisse-doit-soumettre-les-avocats-et-fiduciaires-a-la-loi-sur-le-blanchiment-d-argent-rappelle-le-gafi | language=fr | access-date=2025-01-12}}</ref> As of 2022, the Swiss government is following up on some of those recommendations.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/swiss-want-more-transparency-in-fight-against-money-laundering/47975468 | title=Swiss want more transparency in fight against money laundering | date=13 October 2022}}</ref> In addition, [[Transparency International]] is demanding that lawyers, financial advisors plus real estate and art transactions be subject to the same exacting anti-money laundering measures as banks.<ref name="James 2023 o707">{{cite web | last=James | first=Helen | title=The impact of Russia sanctions on Swiss banks | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2023-09-01 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/the-impact-of-russia-sanctions-on-swiss-banks/48751978 | access-date=2023-09-06}}</ref> However, in 2025, the [[Swiss parliament]] has pushed back on many of these reforms on grounds of "competitiveness" for the Swiss banking sector.<ref name="v855">{{cite web | last=Reuters | first=Thomson | title=Swiss lawmakers push back on anti-money laundering law over competitiveness concerns | website=KELO-AM | date=2025-09-11 | url=https://kelo.com/2025/09/11/swiss-lawmakers-push-back-on-anti-money-laundering-law-over-competitiveness-concerns/ | access-date=2025-10-28}}</ref>

===Enabling industry===
{{see also|Corruption in Switzerland#Banking}}
The [[enabler|"enabling industry"]] refers to lawyers, fiduciaries, notaries, and real estate agents who assist criminals in investing or hiding their ill-gotten wealth. Their activity is not covered by the [[Money laundering in Switzerland|Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act]] as long as they are only advising clients to place money in a particular financial institution or country.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-stumbles-in-anti-corruption-ranking/47287914 | title=Switzerland stumbles in anti-corruption ranking | date=25 January 2022}}</ref> Furthermore, lawyers in Switzerland can refuse to disclose almost anything to the authorities about their clients.<ref name="Long shadow of Russian money raises"/><ref name="IFLR 2023 d594">{{cite web | title=Switzerland: updated legislation for internal investigations at banks and financial services providers | website=IFLR | date=2023-08-10 | url=https://www.iflr.com/article/2c1fszz95d4r2vlb0nq4g/local-insights/switzerland-updated-legislation-for-internal-investigations-at-banks-and-financial-services-providers | access-date=2023-08-15}}</ref>

Under the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act, banks must [[Money laundering in Switzerland|report suspicious clients and transactions]] to the authorities. Lawyers and other advisors have no such obligation if they simply create trusts and other constructs rather than handle assets.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/is-switzerland-doing-enough-to-freeze-russian-assets-/47597540 | title=Is Switzerland doing enough to freeze Russian assets? | date=18 May 2022}}</ref>

According to the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland in 2017, official "[[suspicious activity report]]s" reached nearly 4,700 (worth $16.2 billion) up from 2,909 reported cases in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/bribery--fraud--terror-financing_record-reached-for-suspected-money-laundering-reports/44081392 |title = Record reached for suspected money-laundering reports |website=SWI swissinfo.ch|date = 27 April 2018}}</ref> Suspicious activity reports increased to 21,000 in 2025.<ref name="z889">{{cite web |author=SWI swissinfo.ch |date=2025-10-26 |title=Swiss anti-money laundering office overwhelmed by surge in reports |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/various/swiss-anti-money-laundering-office-overwhelmed-by-surge-in-reports/90227878 |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}</ref>

The Swiss Financial Services Act of 2020 (FinSA) requires [[financial adviser]]s to obtain a licence (950 firms advising on nearly $200 billion have been approved by [[FINMA]]). The law also requires any "retrocession" paid by the bank to the advisor to be disclosed publicly.<ref name="Jones Times 2023 u136"/>

===Assets seizure===
{{main|Crime in Switzerland#Assets seizure}}

{{see also|International sanctions during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine#U.S. "freeze and seize" policy}}

Under current rules, banking institutions and cantonal authorities can only report what is in their registers; looking into the origins of assets or connections between individuals is not permitted.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/ukraine-urges-switzerland-to-clamp-down-on-russian-money/47467388|title = Ukraine urges Switzerland to clamp down on Russian money| date=27 March 2022}}</ref> For example, in 2022, a [[Russian oligarch]] reportedly handed his Swiss company over to his wife to avoid the [[sanctions against Russia]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sanctioned-russian--handed-swiss-company-over-to-wife-/47616972 | title=Russian oligarch 'handed Swiss company over to wife' | date=23 May 2022}}</ref>

Swiss authorities can ''freeze'' assets if the law requires them to. However, ''seizing'' assets is only permitted in [[Crime in Switzerland|cases involving crime]] or for destituted [[wikt:potentate|potentate]]s.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/could-switzerland-seize-russian-assets-to-rebuild-ukraine-/47691436 | title=Could Switzerland seize Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine? | date=22 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.letemps.ch/economie/confisquer-avoirs-russes-tres-difficile-selon-droit-suisse | title=Confisquer des avoirs russes: Très difficile selon le droit suisse | newspaper=Le Temps | date=31 May 2022}}</ref>

At least a dozen destitute autocrats have had their assets frozen or seized by the [[Swiss government]] over the years. The amounts can be counted in billions of dollars. According to the [[Swiss media]], some of the amounts have not yet been restituted to the people of the countries of origin to whom it properly belongs.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/dictators--funds-in-switzerland---the-biggest-scandals/47477324 | title=Dictators' funds in Switzerland – the biggest scandals | date=2 June 2022}}</ref>

==Protections==
Breaches of banking secrecy laws in Switzerland are automatically processed pursuant to [[Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks#Original frame|Article 47 of the Banking Law of 1934]]: those who disclose client information are subject to a maximum of five years' [[imprisonment]] and 250,000 [[Swiss franc|francs]] ([[€]]215,000 or [[US$]]250,000)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kim |first=Suk-joong |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/International_Banking_A_Functional_Appro/8V3PEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=banking+secrecy+Switzerland+1934+250,000&pg=PA367&printsec=frontcover |title=International Banking: A Functional Approach |date=2023-08-02 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-12-6233-3 |language=en}}</ref> in fines.<ref name="Maurice-1984" /> [[Whistleblower]]s and leakers of client information often face hostility from the public and sustain professional setbacks.<ref name="Carvajal-2014" /><ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> Denounced as a criminal in Switzerland, a federal [[arrest warrant]] has been in place for [[Bradley Birkenfeld]] since 2008, after [[UBS tax evasion controversies|he disclosed UBS client information]] to the U.S. [[Internal Revenue Service]] in 2007.<ref>"UBS exec indicted in tax evasion scheme." The Recorder (2008). General Reference Center Gold. Web. 17 June 2010.</ref> After the [[2008 financial crisis]], the Swiss Parliament initiated a series of international [[tax treaties]] that rolled back banking secrecy protections for foreign clients in response to pressure from the [[European Union]], United States, and [[United Kingdom]].<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" />

==Major banks==
{{see also|List of banks in Switzerland}}
{{as of|2018}}, there are more than 400 securities dealers and [[List of banks in Switzerland|banking institutions in Switzerland]], ranging from the "Two Big Banks" down to small banks serving the needs of a single community or a few special clients.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sif.admin.ch/dokumentation/00514/00515/00516/index.html?lang=en|title=Figures on Switzerland as a location for financial services|date=2009-12-31|publisher=Federal Department of Finance|access-date=2010-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112132957/http://www.sif.admin.ch/dokumentation/00514/00515/00516/index.html?lang=en|archive-date=2013-01-12|url-status=dead}}</ref> The largest and second largest Swiss banks are [[UBS Group AG]] and [[Credit Suisse Group AG]], respectively. They account for over 50% of all deposits in Switzerland; each has extensive branch networks throughout the country and most international centers. Due to their size and complexity, UBS and Credit Suisse are subject to an extra degree of supervision from the [[Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority|Federal Banking Commission]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ebk.admin.ch/e/ebk/taetigkeit/taetigkeit3.html|title=Supervision of large banking groups|publisher=Swiss Federal Banking Commission|access-date=2006-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041231113550/http://www.ebk.admin.ch/e/ebk/taetigkeit/taetigkeit3.html|archive-date=2004-12-31|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{as of|2023}} only one in five Swiss people banks with either UBS or Credit Suisse, but most Swiss prefer one or the other. Credit Suisse was historically the bank of [[Protestant Church of Switzerland|Protestant]] Zürich; UBS originated in [[Catholic Church in Switzerland|Catholic]] Basel, near France.<ref name="jones20230406">{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Sam |date=2023-04-06 |title=Walnuts and conspiracies: Credit Suisse and UBS shareholders vent about takeover |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e2c33477-96ee-4774-b3ad-f45744105515 |access-date=2023-04-06}}</ref>

===Swiss National Bank===
{{Main|Swiss National Bank}}

[[File:Suisse 2005 Berne banque nationale.jpg|thumb|The [[central bank]] of Switzerland, the [[Swiss National Bank]] (SNB) is headquartered in [[Bern]].]]

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) serves as the country's [[central bank]]. Founded by the Federal Act on the Swiss National Bank (16 January 1906), it began conducting business on 20 June 1907. Its shares are publicly traded, and are held by the [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]], cantonal banks, and individual investors; the federal government does not hold any shares.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snb.ch/e/snb/aufsicht/aufsicht.html|title=The National Bank as a joint-stock company|publisher=Swiss National Bank|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020808031909/http://www.snb.ch/e/snb/aufsicht/aufsicht.html|archive-date=August 8, 2002|access-date=2006-06-16}}</ref> Although a central bank often has regulatory authority over the country's banking system, the SNB does not; regulation is solely the role of the Federal Banking Commission.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swissbanking.org/en/home/akteure.htm|title=Players|publisher=Swiss Bankers Association|access-date=2006-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801075705/http://www.swissbanking.org/en/home/akteure.htm|archive-date=2013-08-01|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Raiffeisen (Switzerland)|Raiffeisen Banks]] "assumes the role of central bank" in providing treasury services, and is the third largest group consisting of 328 banks in 2011, 390 in 2012 with 1,155 branches.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swissbanking.org/en/bankengruppen.htm |title=Banking groups |access-date=2012-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724140703/http://www.swissbanking.org/en/bankengruppen.htm |archive-date=2012-07-24 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unico.nl/?id=464|title=unico.nl - unico Resources and Information.|website=unico.nl|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref> According to the bank in 2012 non-U.S. businesses of [[Wegelin & Co]], the oldest Swiss bank, would be bought by the Raiffeisen group. The group has 3 million plus clients within Switzerland.<ref name="swissinfo.ch">{{cite web|url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/US_tax_scandal_brings_down_Wegelin.html?cid=32019008|title=US tax scandal brings down Wegelin|work=SWI Swissinfo.ch|date=27 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="online.wsj.com">{{cite web| url = https://www.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120127-706462.html| title = Reference at www.wsj.com}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

===UBS===
{{Main|UBS}}

{{Pie chart
| caption= Capital ownership of [[UBS]] by country of origin as of 2014<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.bilan.ch/tv-bilan/les_fonds_americains_rachetent_la_suisse|title=Les fonds américains rachètent la Suisse|date=2015-12-09|work=Mary Varkadis|access-date=2020-02-10|language=fr}}</ref>
| label1 = Switzerland
| value1 = 19.5
| color1 = red
| label2 = United States
| value2 = 10.6
| color2 = blue
| label3 = United Kingdom
| value3 = 16.8
| color3 = green
| label4 = Asia-Pacific-Singapore
| value4 = 9.7
| color4 = gray
| label5 = Germany
| value5 = 0.7
| color5 = Magenta
| label6 = Others
| value6 = 42.7
| color6 = orange
}}

{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = vertical
| width = 180
| image1 = Eingang UBS Paradeplatz.JPG
| caption1 = The largest bank in Switzerland: [[UBS]]
}}

UBS Group AG came into existence in June 1998, when [[Union Bank of Switzerland]], founded in 1862, and [[Swiss Bank Corporation]], founded in 1872, [[merged]].<ref name="UBS-2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.ubs.com/global/en/about_ubs/about_us/history.html|title=History of UBS|website=Global topics|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref> Headquartered in [[Zürich]] and [[Basel]], it is Switzerland's largest bank.<ref name="UBS-2018" /> It maintains seven main offices around the world (four in the [[Economy of the United States|United States]] and one each in London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong) and branches on five continents.<ref name="UBS-2018" /> UBS has been at the center of [[UBS tax evasion controversies|various tax evasion investigations]] and other [[criminal investigation]]s since its founding. UBS was fined $100 million by the [[Federal Reserve]] in 2004 for trading in [[dollar]]s with [[Iran]] and other sanctioned countries.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/11/business/ubs-fined-100-million-over-trading-of-dollars.html|title = UBS Fined $100 Million over Trading of Dollars|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 11 May 2004}}</ref>

===Credit Suisse===
{{Main|Credit Suisse}}

Credit Suisse Group was the second-largest Swiss bank.<ref name="Credit Suisse-2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.credit-suisse.com/corporate/en/our-company/history.html|title=History of Credit Suisse|website=Credit Suisse|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref> Based in Zürich and founded in 1856, Credit Suisse offers private banking, investment banking and asset management services.<ref name="Credit Suisse-2018" /> It acquired the [[First Boston Corporation]] in 1988 and merged with the [[Winterthur Group|Winterthur]] insurance company in 1997; the latter was sold to [[Axa]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creditsuisse.com/who_we_are/doc/company_profile_en.pdf|title=Company Profile|publisher=Credit Suisse|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615215916/http://creditsuisse.com/who_we_are/doc/company_profile_en.pdf|archive-date=15 June 2006 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status=dead|access-date=2006-06-17}}</ref> The asset management services were sold to [[Aberdeen Asset Management]] during the [[2008 financial crisis]].<ref name="Credit Suisse-2018" /> Credit Suisse has been at the center of [[Credit Suisse#Legal cases|various tax evasion investigations]] or [[money laundering]] activities since its founding.<ref>{{cite web |date=December 23, 2020 |title=Credit Suisse told to tighten money-laundering compliance by US |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/credit-suisse-told-to-tighten-money-laundering-compliance-by-us/46242718 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}</ref>
Credit Suisse collapsed in 2023 and [[Acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS|it was acquired by UBS the same year]].<ref name=acq>{{Cite news |date=19 March 2023 |title=UBS Agrees to Buy Credit Suisse in Historic Deal to End Crisis|work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-19/ubs-agrees-to-buy-credit-suisse-in-historic-deal-to-end-crisis |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=19 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319172338/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-19/ubs-agrees-to-buy-credit-suisse-in-historic-deal-to-end-crisis |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Private banks===
The term [[private bank]] refers to a bank that offers [[private banking]] services and in its legal form is a partnership.<ref name="Noonan-2017">{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/01927da8-d451-11e7-a303-9060cb1e5f44 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/01927da8-d451-11e7-a303-9060cb1e5f44 |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The decline of the Swiss private bank|last=Noonan|first=Laura|date=December 10, 2017|website=Financial Times|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref> The first private banks were created in [[St. Gallen]] in the mid-18th century and in Geneva in the late 18th century as partnerships, and some are still in the hands of the original families such as [[Hottinger]] and [[Mirabaud Group|Mirabaud]].<ref name="Noonan-2017" /> In Switzerland, such private banks are called "private bankers" (in the local languages, a protected term) to distinguish them from the other private banks which are typically shared corporations.<ref name="Noonan-2017" /> Historically in Switzerland a minimum of CHF1&nbsp;million was required to open an account, however, over the last years many private banks have lowered their entry hurdles to CHF250,000 for private investors.<ref name="Noonan-2017" />

===Cantonal banks===
{{Main|Cantonal bank}}

There are, as of 2006, 24 [[cantonal bank]]s; these banks are state-guaranteed semi-governmental organizations controlled by one of Switzerland's [[26 cantons]] that engage in all banking businesses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swissbanking.org/en/home/fs-allgemein.htm|title=Bank groups|publisher=Swiss Bankers Association|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617194705/http://www.swissbanking.org/en/home/fs-allgemein.htm|archive-date=17 June 2006|url-status=dead|access-date=2006-06-17}}</ref> Together the cantonal banks account for about 30% of the banking sector in Switzerland, with a network of over 800 branches and 16 000 employees in Switzerland. In 2014 consolidated total assets of all cantonal banks accounted around 500 bln CHF, which is comparable with those of one the "Big Banks", UBS and Credit Suisse.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thebanks.eu/bank-categories/cantonal-banks|title=Cantonal Banks|publisher=thebanks|accessdate=2019-12-07}}</ref> The largest cantonal bank, the [[Zurich Cantonal Bank]], has approximately 5 000 employees had a 2005 net income of CHF810&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zkb.com/privatebank/aaa/pdf/cp-en.pdf|title=ZKB Company Profile 2005|publisher=Zürich Cantonal Bank|access-date=2006-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703112247/http://www.zkb.com/privatebank/aaa/pdf/cp-en.pdf|archive-date=2007-07-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Controversies==
===World War II===
{{See also|Nazi gold}}
In 1996 and 1997, a series of class action lawsuits were filed in several United States federal courts against Swiss banks and other Swiss entities, alleging that financial institutions in Switzerland collaborated with and aided the Nazi Regime by knowingly retaining and concealing assets of Holocaust victims, and by accepting and laundering illegally obtained Nazi loot and profits of slave labor. The resulting [[Volcker Commission]] and agreement brokered therefrom resulted in a $1.25 billion restitution to Holocaust victims.<ref name="HVAL"/>

===Banking secrecy===
<!--This section is meant to be the *most comprehensive treatment of Swiss banking secrecy* on Wikipedia, everything else should be directed or redirected appropriately. --><!--Do NOT add any tax evasion aspects to this section. Take it to the succeeding section called "tax evasion".--><!--Maintain WP:NPOV or else contributions will be removed.-->

{{Main|Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks#Revisions}}
<!--The state of banking secrecy in the 21st century, parable with a focus to the most recent year e.g. 2017, 2018, etc.--><!--Maintain WP:NPOV or else contributions will be removed.-->
{{quote box
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| quote = [Banking secrecy] is comparable to [[medical privacy|medical confidentiality]] ... [Switzerland] must absolutely respect the private sphere ... [no one should] know what there is in your bank account.
| source = [[Ueli Maurer]], former [[President of Switzerland]] in 2013<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/swiss-president-sees-no-need-to-change-banking-secrecy/1102358/|title=Swiss president sees no need to change banking secrecy|date=2013-04-14|publisher=Indian Express|access-date=2013-04-14}}</ref>
}}

Switzerland, considered the "grandfather of bank secrecy", has been one of the largest [[offshore financial centers]] and [[tax haven]]s in the world since the mid-20th century.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a">[[#Bibliography|Financial Secrecy Index: Narrative Report on Switzerland (2018)]], p. 1</ref> Despite an international push to meaningfully roll back banking secrecy laws in the country, Swiss political forces have minimized and reverted many of the proposed rollbacks.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> Disclosing client information has been considered a serious social and criminal offense since the early 1900s.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> [[Whistleblower]]s, despite legal protections, often face professional setbacks in Switzerland.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /><ref name="Carvajal-2014">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/world/europe/swiss-banks-tradition-of-secrecy-clashes-with-quests-abroad-for-disclosure.html|title=Swiss Banks' Tradition of Secrecy Clashes With Quests Abroad for Disclosure|last=Carvajal|first=Doreen|date=July 8, 2014|access-date=May 20, 2018|work=The New York Times |quote=If you blow the whistle you are socially and financially dead.}}</ref> Swiss bankers who maintain offices ''exclusively'' in Switzerland are shielded from a foreign state's lawsuits, [[extradition]] requests, and criminal charges, as long as they remain ''within'' the country's legal jurisdiction.<ref name="Enrich-2018"/> In spite of minor adjustments to bank secrecy, bankers working in Switzerland and abroad at Swiss banks have long adhered to an unwritten code similar to that observed by doctors or priests.<ref name="Thomasson-2013">{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-banks-specialreport/special-report-the-battle-for-the-swiss-soul-idUSBRE93H07620130418|title=Special Report: The battle for the Swiss soul|last=Thomasson|first=Emma|date=April 18, 2013|work=Reuters|access-date=May 19, 2018}}</ref> Switzerland's main lingual hubs, [[Geneva]] (for [[French language|French]]), [[Lugano]] (for [[Italian language|Italian]]), and [[Zürich]] (for [[German language|German]]) service the different geographical markets.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> It consistently ranks in the top three states on the [[Financial Secrecy Index]] and was named first many times, most recently in 2018.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> The [[Swiss Bankers Association]] estimated in 2018 that Swiss banks held US$6.5 trillion in assets or 25% of all global cross-border assets.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> These secrecy laws have linked the Swiss banking system with individuals and institutions seeking to [[Tax evasion|illegally evade taxes]], hide assets, or generally commit [[financial crime]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/kpmg-study-_swiss-banks-urged-to-step-up-fight-against-financial-crime/44217548|title=Swiss banks urged to step up fight against financial crime|date=June 26, 2018|website=swissinfo.ch|access-date=2020-04-23}}</ref>

Secrecy laws have been violated by four people since 1934: [[Christoph Meili]] (1997), [[Bradley Birkenfeld]] (2007), [[Rudolf Elmer]] (2011), and [[Hervé Falciani]] (2014).<ref name="Thomasson-2013" /> In all four cases, the [[whistleblower]]s were served with federal arrest warrants, fined, and sustained professional setbacks in Switzerland.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2017/12/23/one-mans-fight-against-the-swiss-offshore-banking-system|title=One man's fight against the Swiss offshore banking system|last=Pacaud|first=Julien|date=December 23, 2017|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref>

As of 2015, Swiss banking secrecy was considered "dead" because of [[FATCA]], but according to the [[Tax Justice Network]] in 2018, these schemes are "[[#Loopholes|full of loopholes and shortcomings]]" which can still be exploited by lawyers to hide the assets of their clients.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/perfect-storm_many-swiss-private-banks-facing--extinction-/45178358|title=Many Swiss private banks facing 'extinction'|website=SWI swissinfo.ch|date=22 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://financialsecrecyindex.com/introduction/introducing-the-fsi |title=Introducing the FSI 2018 |work=[[Financial Secrecy Index]] |publisher=[[Tax Justice Network]] |date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102190827/https://financialsecrecyindex.com/introduction/introducing-the-fsi |accessdate=2022-08-13 |archive-date=2019-01-02 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Besides, some autocratic or developing countries don't have any [[#Automatic exchange of tax information|automatic exchange of tax information]] with Switzerland.

In 2022, the [[Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe|Helsinki Commission]] of the [[U.S. Congress]] stated:<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/us-commission-accuses-switzerland-of-hiding-russian-assets/47570650 | title=US commission accuses Switzerland of hiding Russian assets | date=5 May 2022}}</ref>{{blockquote|Long known as a [[Money laundering in Switzerland|destination for war criminals]] and [[kleptocrats]] to stash their plunder, [[Corruption in Switzerland#Banking|Switzerland is a leading enabler]] of Russian dictator [[Vladimir Putin]] and his cronies. After looting Russia, Putin and [[Russian oligarchs|his oligarchs]] use Swiss secrecy laws [[Switzerland-Russia relations#Trade|to hide and protect the proceeds of their crimes]].}}

==== Freedom of the press ====
{{See also|Media in Switzerland|Suisse secrets}}

Since leaking financial data is a criminal offense in Switzerland (even if it is in the public interest)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/swiss-parliamentarians-refuse-to-overhaul-banking-secrecy-laws/47574910 | title=Swiss parliamentarians refuse to overhaul banking secrecy laws | date=7 May 2022}}</ref> punishable with up to five years in jail, [[Swiss media]] argued in February 2022 that the banking secrecy law runs contrary to [[freedom of speech]] and [[freedom of the press]] in some cases.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Matthew Allen |title=Swiss banking secrecy law clashes with freedom of speech|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/swiss-banking-secrecy-law-clashes-with-freedom-of-speech-/47365724 |access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/un-rapporteur-calls-out-switzerland-for--criminalisation-of-journalism-/47563000 | title=UN rapporteur calls out Switzerland for 'criminalisation of journalism' | date=3 May 2022}}</ref> In 2022, the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]] asked for a better protection of journalists and whistleblowers in this regard.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-press-freedom-under-scrutiny-at-the-united-nations/47694752 | title=Swiss press freedom under scrutiny at the United Nations | date=23 June 2022}}</ref>

==== Bank vaults and bunkers ====
{{see also|Free economic zone#Criminal use}}
A handful of larger Swiss banks operate undisclosed or otherwise secretive [[bank vault]]s, storage facilities or [[Bunker|underground bunkers]] for [[gold bar]]s, [[diamond]]s, or other valuable [[Asset|physical assets]].<ref name="Schutz-2000"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/banking-a-crack-in-the-swiss-vault/|title=Banking: A Crack In The Swiss Vault|last=Kroft|first=Steve|date=December 30, 2009|work=CBC News: 60 Minutes|access-date=May 16, 2018|quote=The subterranean vaults of Geneva and Zurich have served as sanctuaries for the wealth of dictators and despots, mobsters and arms dealers, corrupt officials and tax cheats of all kinds.}}</ref> Most of these underground bunkers are located near or at the foothills of the mountainous regions of the [[Swiss Alps]].<ref name="Baker-2016">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-30/secret-swiss-gold-vaults-are-the-new-swiss-bank-accounts|title=Secret Alpine Gold Vaults Are the New Swiss Bank Accounts|last=Baker|first=Stephanie|date=September 30, 2016|work=Bloomberg.com|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref> These facilities are not subject to the [[List of Swiss financial market legislation|same banking regulations]] as [[List of banks in Switzerland|banks in Switzerland]] and do not have to report holdings to regulatory agencies.<ref name="Baker-2016" /><ref name="IWJC-1996">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nazis/readings/sinister.html|title=The Sinister Face Of 'Neutrality'|date=1996|website=pbs.org|access-date=May 17, 2018|quote=Before the Second World War, with the rise of Nazism, many Jews in Central and East Europe sought to protect a part of their assets by depositing money in Swiss accounts, and their valuables in Swiss safe deposit boxes. To encourage such transfers, in 1934 the Swiss even strengthened special banking secrecy laws which facilitated preservation of the anonymity of depositors.}}</ref> The [[Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport|Swiss defense department]] estimates that of the ten former military [[bunker]]s available for sale, six of them were sold to Swiss banks to house assets during the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="Schutz-2000"/><ref name="Mercury News-2013">{{Cite news|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2013/08/17/got-gold-switzerland-has-an-underground-bunker-just-for-you/|title=Got gold? Switzerland has an underground bunker just for you|date=August 17, 2013|work=The Mercury News|access-date=May 14, 2018}}</ref> Storage in these underground bunkers and bank vaults is typically reserved for clients that pass a multi-stage [[security clearance]].<ref name="Baker-2016" /> Some of these bunkers are not accessible by road or foot and require aircraft transportation.<ref name="Schutz-2000"/>

====Numbered bank accounts====
{{Main|Numbered bank account}}

Many banks in Switzerland offer clients [[numbered bank account]]s, accounts where the identity of the holder is replaced with a multi-digit number known only to the client and select private bankers.<ref name="The Economic Times-2013">{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/fancy-yourself-a-numbered-swiss-bank-account-heres-how-you-can-get-one/articleshow/44979525.cms|title=Fancy yourself a numbered Swiss Bank account? Here's how you can get one|date=October 30, 2013|work=[[The Economic Times]]|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Obringer-2011"/> Although these accounts do add another layer of banking secrecy, they are not completely anonymous as the name of the client is still recorded by the bank and subject to limited, warranted disclosure.<ref name="The Economic Times-2013" /> Some Swiss banks supplement the number with a [[code name]] such as "Cardinal",<ref name="Enrich-2018"/> "Octopussy"<ref name="Browning-2009">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/business/global/20ubs.html|title=Under Agreement, UBS to Give Up 4,450 Names|last=Browning|first=Lynnley|date=August 19, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 15, 2018}}</ref> or "Cello"<ref name="Browning-2009" /> that provide an alternative means of identifying the client.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.investopedia.com/study-guide/series-10/chapter-34/chapter-3/numbered-accounts/|title=Numbered Bank Accounts - Series 10|date=November 12, 2014|work=Investopedia|access-date=May 18, 2018|quote=A broker dealer, at the request of the customer, may open an account that is simply identified by a number or a symbol, as long as there is a statement signed by the customer attesting to the ownership of the account.}}</ref> However, to open this type of account in Switzerland, clients must pass a multi-stage [[Security clearance|clearance procedure]] and prove to the bank the lawful origins of their assets.<ref name="Koba-2008">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2008/08/20/swiss-bank-accounts-separating-fact-from-fiction.html|title=How To Open A Swiss Bank Account|last=Koba|first=Mark|date=August 20, 2008|work=CNBC|access-date=May 12, 2018}}</ref>

===Connection to illegal activities===
{{See also|Crime in Switzerland#Crime by type}}

[[List of banks in Switzerland|Swiss banks]] have served as [[Tax haven|safe havens]] for the wealth of [[dictator]]s, [[despotism|despots]], [[mobster]]s, [[arms dealer]]s, [[political corruption|corrupt officials]], and [[tax evasion|tax cheat]]s of all kinds.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/banking-a-crack-in-the-swiss-vault/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521031943/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/banking-a-crack-in-the-swiss-vault/ |work=[[60 Minutes]] |publisher=[[CBS]] |title=Banking: A Crack In The Swiss Vault |date=December 30, 2009 |archive-date=May 21, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/891d5eea-e222-11e1-8e9d-00144feab49a|title=Swiss banks accused over tax evasion|website=Financial Times|access-date=2018-06-20|archive-date=2018-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620101251/https://www.ft.com/content/891d5eea-e222-11e1-8e9d-00144feab49a|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tdg.ch/comment-des-suisses-aident-rois-et-dictateurs-a-cacher-leurs-fortunes-770537858964|title="Pandora Papers" – Comment des Suisses aident rois et dictateurs à cacher leur fortune|website=Tribune de Genève}}</ref>

Historically, mobster [[Meyer Lansky]], Vatican-linked banker [[Licio Gelli]] of the lodge "[[Propaganda Due|P2]]" in Italy, Mexican president [[Carlos Salinas]]'s family amongst others, have reportedly used Swiss banks to [[launder money]] over the years.<ref>"Offshore Banking: The Secret Threat to America", ''Dissent'', Spring 2003.</ref><ref name=1982arrest>"Leader of Italian Scandal Arrested Trying to Get Cash in Swiss Bank," ''[[The Miami Herald]]'', September 15, 1982</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gao.gov/archive/1999/os99001.pdf|title=PRIVATE BANKING : Raul Salinas, Citibank, and Alleged Money Laundering|website=Gao.gov|access-date=2 December 2018|archive-date=August 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821131638/http://www.gao.gov/archive/1999/os99001.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Swiss banks have been commonly identified as [[World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss banks|holding ill-gotten Nazi gold]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nazis/readings/sinister.html | website=[[PBS]] | title=The Sinister Face of 'Neutrality' &#124; FRONTLINE}}</ref> The [[Swiss National Bank]], the largest gold distribution centre in continental Europe before the war, was the logical venue through which [[Nazi Germany]] could dispose of [[Nazi gold|its gold]].<ref name="Eizenstat">[https://www.state.gov/1997-2001-NOPDFS/regions/eur/rpt_9705_ng_links.html Eizenstat Special Briefing on Nazi Gold] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415134321/http://www.state.gov/1997-2001-NOPDFS/regions/eur/rpt_9705_ng_links.html |date=2015-04-15}}. Stuart Eizenstat, US State Department, 2 June 1998. Retrieved on 5 July 2006.</ref>

[[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]] reported that throughout 1981 and 1982, the Israelis reportedly set up Swiss bank accounts to handle the financial end of [[Israel's role in the Iran–Iraq war#Weapon sales|the annual multi-million dollars arms deals]] between [[Iran–Israel relations|Iran and Israel]] during the [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963021,00.html |title=From Many Strands, a Tangled Web |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408171452/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963021,00.html |archive-date=2008-04-08}}</ref><ref>For more on Israeli Hawk missile sales to Iran see Richard Johns, "Arms Embargo Which Cannot Withstand The Profit Motive," ''Financial Times'' (London), 13 November 1987)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wrmea.org/1986-november/israeli-arms-sales-to-iran.html|title=Israeli Arms Sales to Iran}}</ref>

According to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's office and [[Swiss media|media]], during the 1990s and early 2000s [[Al Qaeda]] members had accounts at Swiss banks, including at [[UBS]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/09/11/osamas-bank-account|title = Osama's Bank Account|magazine = [[The New Yorker]]|date = 4 September 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/bin-laden-linked-to-swiss-bank-accounts/3659586|title = Bin Laden linked to Swiss bank accounts| date=4 December 2003}}</ref>

[[Unexplained wealth of the Marcos family|Switzerland finally released a total of $683 million in Marcos funds to the Philippines Treasury]] in 2004.<ref name="StARnodeMarcosSwitzerland">{{cite web |title=StAR - Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative - Corruption Cases - Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (Switzerland) |url=https://star.worldbank.org/corruption-cases/node/18497#:~:text=In%25202004%252C%2520Switzerland%2520released%2520%2524683,million%2520frozen%2520and%2520accumulated%2520interest. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219030257/http://star.worldbank.org/corruption-cases/node/18497#:~:text=In%25202004%252C%2520Switzerland%2520released%2520%2524683,million%2520frozen%2520and%2520accumulated%2520interest. |archive-date=2014-02-19 |access-date=2020-08-21 |website=star.worldbank.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/lawyer-warns-against-returning-mobutu-assets/7365572 |title=Lawyer warns against returning Mobutu assets - SWI swissinfo.ch|date=29 April 2009}}</ref>

[[Mark Pieth]], a Swiss professor of criminal law, said [[Mobutu]] of [[Zaire]] had stolen US$30 billion over his 30 years in power but much of it he used to oil the wheels of power and pay off political and military allies. Billions were hidden in Swiss bank accounts illegally.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland--ready-to-return-mobutu-funds-/6009280 |title=Switzerland "ready to return Mobutu funds" - SWI swissinfo.ch|date=17 July 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9706/03/mobutu/ |title=Swiss banks find only $3.4 million in Mobutu assets |date=June 3, 1997 |publisher=CNN}}</ref>

According to Haitian authorities, [[Jean Claude Duvalier]] had nearly $300 million of Haitian people's money hidden in Swiss bank accounts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-05-13-8602030429-story.html |title=HAITI SAYS $300 MILLION TRACED TO DUVALIER ACCOUNTS – Chicago Tribune |website=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=13 May 1986}}</ref>

Then-Nigerian President [[Sani Abacha]] is said to have stolen over a billion dollars in the 90's from his country, some of it hidden in Swiss bank accounts.<ref name="j262">{{cite web | title=the hunt for the billions stolen by Nigeria's ex-leader | website=BBC Home | date=2021-01-28 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54929254 | access-date=2025-01-14}}</ref><ref name="m742">{{cite web | author=SWI swissinfo.ch | title=Swiss banks under fire for dealings with Abacha family | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2000-09-04 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/banking-fintech/swiss-banks-under-fire-for-dealings-with-abacha-family/1641772 | access-date=2025-01-14}}</ref>

In 2013, the [[International Consortium of Investigative Journalists]] (ICIJ), a [[Washington, D.C.]]–based [[nonprofit]] news organization, obtained records of companies and trusts created by two offshore companies. These included information on at least 23 companies linked to an alleged $230 million tax fraud in Russia, a case that was being investigated by [[Sergei Magnitsky]]. The ICIJ investigation also revealed that the husband of one of the Russian tax officials deposited millions in a Swiss bank account set up by one of the offshore companies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/piercing-the-secrecy-of-offshore-tax-havens/2013/04/06/1551806c-7d50-11e2-a044-676856536b40_story.html |title=Piercing the secrecy of offshore tax havens |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2013-04-06 |accessdate=2022-06-11}}</ref>

Over the past 20 years, Switzerland has returned about $2 billion of ill-gotten money in at least ten cases, including to Tunisia, Egypt, Brazil, Nigeria, Malaysia and Uzbekistan (2022).<ref>{{cite web |title=Swiss asset restitution strategy comes in for criticism|date=27 January 2022|website=SWI swissinfo.ch|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-asset-restitution-strategy-comes-in-for-criticism/47296700 |access-date=27 January 2022}}</ref> Swiss bank accounts were utilised by the perpetrators of the [[1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal|1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption and money laundering scandal]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2016-07-28 |title=1MDB: The inside story of the world's biggest financial scandal|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/1mdb-inside-story-worlds-biggest-financial-scandal-malaysia |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>

[[Suisse secrets|More recent studies]] show that [[Credit Suisse]] alone held assets worth $100 billion over several decades which were linked to corruption and bribery to drug and human trafficking for more than 30,000 clients.<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite news |title=Revealed: Credit Suisse leak unmasks criminals, fraudsters and corrupt politicians |last1=Pegg |first1=David |last2=Makortoff |first2=Kalyeena |last3=Chulov |first3=Martin |last4=Lewis |first4=Paul |last5=Harding |first5=Luke |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=20 February 2022 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/feb/20/credit-suisse-secrets-leak-unmasks-criminals-fraudsters-corrupt-politicians}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220221-swissleaks-probe-says-credit-suisse-bank-handled-dirty-money-over-decades|title='SwissLeaks' probe says Credit Suisse bank handled dirty money over decades|date=February 21, 2022|website=France 24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2022-02-21|title=il vaticano di svizzero non ha solo le guardie - c'è anche la segreteria di stato tra i clienti...|url=http://m.dagospia.com/il-vaticano-di-svizzero-non-ha-solo-le-guardie-c-e-anche-la-segreteria-di-stato-tra-i-clienti-300490|access-date=2022-02-21|website=m.dagospia.com}}</ref> Apart from the 2022 "[[Suisse secrets]]" revelations, Credit Suisse had several other cases of scandals reported by the media over the last decades.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/feb/21/tax-timeline-credit-suisse-scandals|title=Crooks, kleptocrats and crises: a timeline of Credit Suisse scandals|date=February 21, 2022|website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

In 2018, [[London]]-based [[Tax Justice Network]] ranks Switzerland's banking sector as the "most corrupt" in the world due to a large [[offshore banking]] industry and very strict secrecy laws. The ranking attempts to measure how much assistance the country's legal systems provide to [[money laundering]], and to protecting corruptly obtained wealth.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thelocal.ch/20180131/switzerland-remains-top-of-financial-secrecy-ranking-as-us-rises-to-second |title=Switzerland remains top of 'financial secrecy' ranking as US rises to second |date=31 January 2018 |access-date=18 July 2019}}</ref>

As of 2019, key criminal probes involving Swiss banks were the [[Petrobras]] bribery case, the [[Mozambique]] "tuna bonds", [[Credit Suisse]] "spygate" affair, [[Raiffeisen (Switzerland)|Raiffeisen]] insider trading and [[UBS]] tax evasion in France.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/under-investigation-_the-key-criminal-probes-involving-swiss-banks-/45396988 |title=The key criminal probes involving Swiss banks|date=27 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Strip clubs and fraud: the trial of an unconventional Swiss banker|date=22 January 2022|website=SWI swissinfo.ch|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/strip-clubs-and-fraud--the-trial-of-an-unconventional-swiss-banker/47278150 |access-date=25 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Strip-Bar Habit Worth $220,000 Hangs Over Swiss Banker on Trial|date=25 January 2022|website=SWI swissinfo.ch|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/bloomberg/strip-bar-habit-worth--220-000-hangs-over-swiss-banker-on-trial/47289916|access-date=27 January 2022|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128012540/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/bloomberg/strip-bar-habit-worth--220-000-hangs-over-swiss-banker-on-trial/47289916|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2021, the [[Swiss Broadcasting Corporation]] reported that the Zürich police are investigating CHF 9 billion from [[Venezuela]] that has been received by 30 Swiss banks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/swiss-banks-slammed-for-venezuela-business/47121378|title=More Swiss banks slammed for Venezuela business|website=SWI swissinfo.ch|date=6 December 2021}}</ref> A Swiss bank account was used to bribe a Venezuelan minister.<ref>{{cite news |title=Banking secrecy remains a business model for Swiss banks |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/banking-secrecy-remains-a-business-model-for-swiss-banks/46335412 |access-date=5 February 2021 |publisher=Swiss Broadcasting Corporation |date=5 February 2021}}</ref> Other major cases involving the [[Credit Suisse]] [[money laundering]] case for drug-traffickers in Bulgaria, [[Falcon Bank]], [[1MBD]], [[Glencore]], [[SICPA]], [[SBM Offshore]], [[PKB Group|PKB]], [[J. Safra Sarasin]], [[Cramer Bank]] and [[Bank Lombard Odier & Co|Lombard Odier Bank]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/fre/economie/les-banques-suisses-en-proc%C3%A8s-en-suisse/46328338|title=Les banques suisses devant la justice|first=Federico|last= Franchini|translator= Marc-André Miserez|website=SWI swissinfo.ch|date=2 February 2021}}</ref>

In 2021, Swiss firm [[Allied Finance Trust]] AG and five Swiss bankers were charged with [[tax fraud]] conspiracy in [[New York City|New York]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/bloomberg/bankers-charged-with-helping-hedge-fund-manager-dodge-taxes/46987366 |title=Bankers Charged With Helping Hedge Fund Manager Dodge Taxes - SWI swissinfo.ch |access-date=2021-10-13 |archive-date=2022-05-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501012839/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/bloomberg/bankers-charged-with-helping-hedge-fund-manager-dodge-taxes/46987366 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2021, [[UBS]] was criminally convicted by an appeals court in France for [[money laundering]] the proceeds of [[tax evasion]] by French citizens and fined €1.8 billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/ubs-fails-to-overturn-french-tax-evasion-guilty-verdict/47187104|title=UBS fails to overturn guilty verdict in French tax evasion case|website=SWI swissinfo.ch|date=13 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/ubs-penalties-slashed-by-around-3-billion-in-french-tax-case-11639402771|title=UBS Penalties Slashed by Around $3 Billion in French Tax Case|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=13 December 2021}}</ref>

In 2023, Switzerland returned $138 million to Taiwan in connection with a [[Taiwan frigate scandal|corruption scandal relating to the sale of French frigates to Taiwan in 1991]].<ref name="SWI swissinfo.ch 2023 e040">{{cite web | title=Switzerland returns corrupt frozen millions to Taiwan | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2023-07-19 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/switzerland-returns-corrupt-frozen-millions-to-taiwan/48673986 | access-date=2023-07-31}}</ref>

===Tax evasion===
{{see also|Taxation in Switzerland}}
[[File:Genève. (9838511724).jpg|thumb|[[Swiss nationality law|Citizens of Switzerland]] retain the country's strictest, most expansive, and unalienable banking secrecy protections as it pertains to taxation.]]

Switzerland has been ranked among the top three [[tax havens]] in the world every single year since the [[2008 financial crisis]], most recently in 2018.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> In 2021, U.S. [[President Joe Biden]] also called Switzerland a "[[tax haven]]" during his [[2021 Joe Biden speech to a joint session of Congress|speech to a joint session of Congress]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2021/04/30/president-joe-biden-called-switzerland-a-tax-haven-and-the-swiss-government-is-not-happy-a|title=Joe Biden said Switzerland is a tax haven. The Swiss do not agree.|date=April 30, 2021|website=euronews}}</ref> Money placed in tax havens, by definition, [[tax evasion|evades taxation]] and therefore diminishes tax revenues in the government's budget of the country of origin to whom it properly belongs, substantially, including for development purposes.<ref name="TOI">{{cite news | url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/13-trillion-pounds-in-offshore-tax-havens-report/articleshow/15093725.cms | title=13 trillion pounds in offshore tax havens: Report | newspaper=The Times of India | date=July 22, 2012 | access-date=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Reuters">{{cite news | url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-offshore-wealth-idUKBRE86L03W20120722?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305141839/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-offshore-wealth-idUKBRE86L03W20120722?feedType=RSS&feedname=topNews | url-status=dead | archive-date=5 March 2016 | title=Super rich hold $32 trillion in offshore havens | work=Reuters | date=July 22, 2012 | access-date=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref name="BBC">{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18944097 | title=Tax havens: Super-rich 'hiding' at least $21tn | publisher=BBC | date=July 22, 2012 | access-date=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The State of Tax Justice 2020|publisher=Tax Justice Network|url= https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The_State_of_Tax_Justice_2020_ENGLISH.pdf|date=20 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=$427bn a year lost to tax abuse by firms and rich individuals, study finds|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/20/427bn-a-year-lost-to-tax-abuse-by-firms-and-rich-individuals-study-finds|date=20 November 2020}}</ref>

====Background====
{{See also|Banking in Switzerland#Automatic exchange of tax information}}
According to the 2018 [[Financial Secrecy Index]], Switzerland's banking secrecy laws have rendered it a premier [[tax haven]] since the 1900s.<ref name="FSI-2018d" /> It also noted that this status has been frequently abused by criminals to illegally [[Tax evasion|evade paying taxes]] in their home country.<ref name="FSI-2018d" /> One of the most prominent attractions of the disclosure protection laws is the distinction between [[tax evasion]] (non-reporting of income) and tax [[fraud]] (active deception).<ref name="FDF-2009">{{cite web|url=http://www.efd.admin.ch/00468/index.html?lang=en&msg-id=25863|title=Switzerland to adopt OECD standard on administrative assistance in fiscal matters|publisher=Federal Department of Finance|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316205240/http://www.efd.admin.ch/00468/index.html?lang=en&msg-id=25863|archive-date=2009-03-16|url-status=dead|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref> Akin to the distinction between legal [[tax avoidance]] and illegal tax evasion in the U.S., the non-reporting of income is only a [[civil offense]] in Switzerland while tax fraud is a financial crime.<ref name="FDF-2009" /> When foreign clients deposit holdings into a Swiss bank account, the bank is legally prohibited from disclosing balances or client information to tax authorities.<ref name="FDF-2009" /> This prohibition can only be waived if the client has produced a written [[Consent|statement of consent]] or a [[financial crime]] has been directly linked to the bank account.<ref name="FDF-2009" /> More often than not,<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> clients do not consent to foreign tax authorities, which leaves only the latter (financial crime) provision available.<ref name="Maurice-1984" /> Many client services available in Switzerland (e.g. [[numbered bank account]]s) are used to shield client data from tax authorities.<ref name="Maurice-1984" />

Many [[sovereign state]]s do not legally require [[private bank]]ers to confirm whether or not a client has paid their taxes, in any capacity.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/06/business/stefan-buck-tax-evasion.html|title=A Swiss Banker Helped Americans Dodge Taxes. Was It a Crime?|last=Enrich|first=David|date=January 6, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 20, 2018}}</ref> On top of this, [[Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks|Switzerland's banking secrecy laws]] prohibit the disclosure of client information under a variety of federal, cantonal, and civil policies.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018a" /> Many foreign nationals open Swiss bank accounts to take advantage of these laws and tax distinctions.<ref name="Maurice-1984">{{Cite journal|last=Maurice|first=Aubert|date=1984|title=The Limits of Swiss Banking Secrecy under Domestic and International Law|url=https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/bjil/vol2/iss2/2/|journal=Berkeley Journal of International Law|volume=2|issue=2|doi=10.15779/Z38DW7X|archive-date=2018-05-22|access-date=2020-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522112514/https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/bjil/vol2/iss2/2/|url-status=dead}}</ref> While [[Swiss nationality law|citizens of Switzerland]] retain the full force of banking secrecy protections, foreign clients are afforded some of the most stringent [[bank–client confidentiality]] protections in the world.<ref name="Maurice-1984" /> In exchange for banking services, the Swiss government charges "a low, lump-sum option on the money they bank", after which Swiss tax authorities consider client tax burdens "settled".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/060716/why-switzerland-considered-tax-haven.asp|title=Why is Switzerland considered a tax haven?|last=Goetz|first=Lisa|date=June 7, 2016|work=Investopedia|access-date=May 20, 2018}}</ref> After the [[Banking Law of 1934]] was passed, Swiss bankers traveled across Europe to advertise the country's banking secrecy during [[World War II]].<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" /> As European countries began to [[War bond|increase taxes to finance the war]], wealthy clients moved their holdings into Swiss accounts to avoid taxation.<ref name="Wikipedia-article-2018b" />

====Fines====
Swiss banks have collectively paid more than $12 billion in fines in recent years to the tax authorities in France, Germany, Italy, the United States and other countries for helping with tax evasion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tdg.ch/ubs-entre-droit-suisse-et-droit-etranger-581991442041|title=Regard éco – UBS: entre droit suisse et droit étranger|website=Tribune de Genève|date=16 December 2021}}</ref> Starting in 2022, fines on Swiss banks abroad will be tax deductible (unless [[Money laundering in Switzerland|crime is involved]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/fines-on-swiss-firms-abroad-will-be-tax-deductible-from-2022/46156202|title=Fines on Swiss firms abroad will be tax deductible from 2022|website=SWI swissinfo.ch|date=11 November 2020}}</ref> In recent years, Swiss banks have also been fined by various international regulators billions of dollars for [[Forex scandal|FOREX]] and [[LIBOR scandal|LIBOR rates manipulations]].

== In popular culture ==
Banking in Switzerland, in particular Swiss banking secrecy practices, has been detailed in global [[popular culture]] to varying degrees of accuracy. According to official statements from the Swiss National Film Archives, inaccurate or exaggerated portrayals negatively impact Switzerland by reducing bankers to unflattering "[[caricature]]s" that are "ever disposed to accept funds from questionable sources".<ref name="Dupraz-Dobias-2014">{{Cite news|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/wolf-of-wall-street_hollywood-sticks-with-swiss-banker--caricature-/37772510|title=Hollywood sticks with Swiss banker 'caricature'|last=Dupraz-Dobias|first=Paula|date=January 21, 2014|work=SWI swissinfo.ch|access-date=May 16, 2018}}</ref> In 2014, Sindy Schmiegel, a spokeswoman for the [[Swiss Bankers Association]] (SBA), stressed that [[List of Swiss financial market legislation|financial regulation in Switzerland]] is dramatically more strict than portrayed fictionally.<ref name="Dupraz-Dobias-2014" /> ''[[The Economic Times]]'' noted that popular culture portrays Swiss bank accounts as "completely anonymous", later adding "this is simply not true."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/fancy-yourself-a-numbered-swiss-bank-account-heres-how-you-can-get-one/articleshow/44979525.cms|title=Fancy yourself a numbered Swiss Bank account? Here's how you can get one|date=October 30, 2014|work=The Economic Times|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref>

Swiss banking is prominently featured in the following films and [[television show]]s:<!--NOTABLE additions only. This is not a depository for every time Swiss banking has been mentioned.--><!--Please review Wikipedia:"In popular culture" content and WP:IPCV before adding/removing anything from this section.--><!--Keep additions to two sentences at most for brevity. --><!--Keep additions clearly laid out, well sourced, and non-trivial.-->
{{quote box
| width = 22em
| fontsize = 95%
| quote = If you can't trust a Swiss banker, then what's the world come to?
| source = [[James Bond]] in ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/world/europe/swiss-banks-tradition-of-secrecy-clashes-with-quests-abroad-for-disclosure.html|title=Swiss Banks' Tradition of Secrecy Clashes With Quests Abroad for Disclosure|last=Carvajal|first=Doreen|date=July 8, 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 15, 2018|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
}}{{unordered list
|''[[The Great Spy Chase]]'' (1964): Francis Lagneau ([[Lino Ventura]]) engages with a Swiss banker to open a bank account containing patents to powerful weapons.<ref name="Haver-2018" /> This film is considered the first motion picture to reference banking in Switzerland.<ref name="Haver-2018" />
| Swiss banking has been mentioned by [[James Bond in film]] and [[List of James Bond novels and short stories|in literature]] dozens of times, it plays a central role in:{{unordered list
| ''[[Goldfinger (film)|Goldfinger]]'' (1964): [[James Bond (literary character)|James Bond]] ([[Sean Connery]]) thwarts Goldfinger's plans to rob [[United States Bullion Depository|a U.S. gold depository]] frequently citing Swiss underground gold bunkers and bank account numbers as motivation.<ref name="Haver-2018">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=py_DBwAAQBAJ&q=casino+royal+swiss+bank+account&pg=PA91|title=Swissness in a Nutshell|last1=Haver|first1=Gianni|last2=Middleton|first2=Robert|date=May 18, 2018|publisher=Schwabe AG|isbn=9783905252644}}</ref> This film was written after Switzerland's role in World War II was at the forefront of international critique on bank secrecy.<ref name="Haver-2018" />
| ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]'' (1969): supervillain [[Ernst Stavro Blofeld]] ([[Telly Savalas]]) tells James Bond ([[George Lazenby]]) that unless a large sum of money is deposited into a Swiss bank account, a bomb will detonate and kill thousands of people.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/licence-to-print-money_james-bond--half-swiss--totally-profitable/33426010|title=James Bond: half-Swiss, totally profitable|last=Stephens|first=Thomas|work=SWI swissinfo.ch|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref> Mentions of Swiss banking in the James Bond novels have been viewed as "reinforcing a stereotype".<ref name="Dupraz-Dobias-2014" />
| ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]'' (1999): James Bond ([[Pierce Brosnan]]) visits a Swiss bank in Spain called ''La Banque Suisse de L'Industrie'' to meet an associate before jumping out of a five-story window.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamesbondmm.co.uk/locations/swiss-bank|title=Mr Lachaise's Swiss Bank {{!}} James Bond Locations|website=jamesbondmm.co.uk|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Haver-2018" />
| ''[[Casino Royale (2006 film)|Casino Royale]]'' (2006): After a high stakes [[poker]] game is completed, the winnings of James Bond ([[Daniel Craig]]) are transferred to a Swiss bank account in [[Basel]] for security.<ref name="Haver-2018" />}}
| ''[[The Godfather Part III]]'' (1990): Frederick Keinszig ([[Helmut Berger]]), a Swiss banker for the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], gets into a [[shootout]] with the [[Corleone family]] over technicalities over [[bank–client confidentiality]].<ref name="Emmenegger-2014">{{Cite journal|last=Emmenegger|first=Patrick|date=March 12, 2014|title=The Politics of Financial Intransparency: The Case of Swiss Banking Secrecy|journal=[[Swiss Political Science Review]]|volume=20|issue=1|pages=146–164|doi=10.1111/spsr.12092|issn=1424-7755|doi-access=free}}</ref> The movie was seen as establishing the "Swiss banker trope" within mainstream culture.<ref name="Emmenegger-2014" />
| ''[[The Bourne Identity (2002 film)|The Bourne Identity]]'' (2002): [[Jason Bourne]] ([[Matt Damon]]), a secret operative for the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) who has [[retrograde amnesia]], begins to recall life events after opening a bank deposit box containing a gun, large amounts of international currency and a variety of [[passport]]s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/swiss-bank-accounts|title=Swiss Bank Secrets|last=Broom|first=Giles|date=August 12, 2016|work=Bloomberg.com|access-date=May 16, 2018}}</ref> The scene was seen as unduly "[emphasizing] the issue of [[Bank secrecy|[bank] secrecy]]".<ref name="Dupraz-Dobias-2014" />
{{quote box
| width = 22em
| fontsize = 95%
| quote = Like most Swiss banks, our safe-deposit boxes are attached to a ''number'', not a name. You have a key and a personal number known only to you.
| source = [[Dan Brown]], ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/davincicodenovel0000brow|url-access=registration|title=The Da Vinci Code: Featuring Robert Langdon|last=Brown|first=Dan|date=November 18, 2003|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=9780385504218|pages=[https://archive.org/details/davincicodenovel0000brow/page/n194 181]}}</ref>}}
| ''[[The Da Vinci Code (film)|The Da Vinci Code]]'' (2006): [[Robert Langdon]] ([[Tom Hanks]]) opens a Swiss bank account at the Paris-based "Depository Bank of Zürich", a high-tech bank that allows clients to deposit and withdraw assets with complete anonymity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/ch-bank.htm|title=Swiss Bank Account|last=Kinsman|first=Robert|access-date=May 18, 2018|quote=In fact, mystery writers have utilized the Swiss Bank as the central focus of intrigue. Where else would one think to store the secrets of the holy grail but in a Swiss bank account, as was the case in the novel the 'Da Vinci Code'. But events in recent years have chipped away at this polished veneer to reveal some rather unseemly criminal behavior.}}</ref> The usage of this type of [[numbered bank account]] is illegal both in France and Switzerland.<ref name="Obringer-2011">{{Cite news|url=https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/banking/swiss-bank-account5.htm|title=How Swiss Bank Accounts Work|last=Obringer|first=Lee Ann|date=June 8, 2011|work=HowStuffWorks|access-date=May 18, 2018}}</ref>
| ''[[The Wolf of Wall Street (2013 film)|The Wolf of Wall Street]]'' (2013): [[Jordan Belfort]] ([[Leonardo DiCaprio]]) travels to the Geneva-based [[Union Bancaire Privée]] (UBP) to meet with private banker Jean Jacques Saurel ([[Jean Dujardin]]) who advises Belfort to open an account in the name of a relative with a [[Passports of the European Union|European passport]] to avoid U.S. taxation.<ref name="Dupraz-Dobias-2014" /> This is technically legal in Switzerland<ref name="foreignbanks">{{cite web|title=foreignbanks.ch.|periodical=|publisher=|url=https://foreignbanks.ch/|format=|access-date=|last=|date=|year=|language=|pages=|quote=}}</ref> as Belfort was not charged with a financial crime (at the time of meeting) and extra banking secrecy is afforded to European citizens.<ref name="time">{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/search/article/0,8599,348968,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021206032510/http://www.time.com/time/search/article/0,8599,348968,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 6, 2002|title=Silence Is Golden|last=Gumbel|first=Peter|date=2002-09-08|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=2006-06-16}}</ref> Belfort's bank–client confidentiality was waived because Saurel traveled outside of Switzerland and was arrested on U.S. soil for a crime ([[money laundering]]) illegal in both countries.<ref name="Obringer-2011" /> The fictional interaction was called "a bit ridiculous and exaggerated" and "not very Swiss" by the [[Swiss Bankers Association]].<ref name="Dupraz-Dobias-2014" />}}

== See also ==
* [[List of Swiss financial market legislation|List of Swiss financial market regulation]]
* [[List of banks in Switzerland]]
* [[Economy of Switzerland#Commodities trading|Commodities trading in Switzerland]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Guex|first=Sébastien|year=2000|title=The Origins of the Swiss Banking Secrecy Law and Its Repercussions for Swiss Federal Policy|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/300378/files/S0007680500074250.pdf|journal=[[Business History Review]]|volume=74|number=2|pages=237–266|jstor=3116693|doi=10.2307/3116693|s2cid=154917222}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Mueller|first=Kurt|year=1969|title=The Swiss Banking Secret: From a Legal View|journal=[[International and Comparative Law Quarterly]]|volume=18|issue=2|pages=360–377|jstor=757529|doi=10.1093/iclqaj/18.2.360}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
<!--Any violations of WP:EXTERNAL will be removed.-->
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.swissworld.org/en/economy/swiss_financial_centre The Swiss Financial Center], from [https://web.archive.org/web/20040626090054/http://www.swissworld.org/ swissworld.org]

{{Banks of Switzerland}}
{{Switzerland topics}}
{{Banking in Europe}}
{{Portal bar|Companies|Switzerland}}
[[Category:Banking in Switzerland| ]]
[[Category:Law of Switzerland]]
[[Category:Privacy]]