Switzerland

Egypt holds Swiss teacher over ‘terrorist name’

"A Swiss primary school teacher from the canton of Bern who went to Egypt for a holiday is being held there on suspicion of being a terrorist because of his name. Rolf Künti, 29, went to the North African country with a colleague for a one-week holiday. But on the day of his planned return to Switzerland he was detained on Monday at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport where he was told by customs he was banned from leaving, according to Swiss media. 'They told me that my name was that of a terrorist if you translate it into Arabic,' Künti is quoted as saying by 20 Minuten, the online news site." Continue reading →

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Swiss court orders stolen East German millions returned

"The ruling, upholding an earlier verdict by a lower court, concerns the transfer into a Swiss bank of 128 million euros from the communist East Germany after the impoverished country's demise in 1990. This transfer by Rudolfine Steindling, a colourful Austrian communist dubbed 'Fini the Red' who died last year, was conducted by a former subsidiary of Bank Austria, itself now part of Italy's UniCredit. In the 1990s Germany, by then reunified, complained that Steindling had no right to the money, which was amassed by East Germany charging fees from Western firms investing there, and that Bank Austria knew this." Continue reading →

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Lucerne orchestra axes concert with Depardieu over tax shopping

"The orchestra in the central Swiss city decided to scrap the May 25th concert over worries that the political waves caused by Depardieu’s tax avoidance activities would overshadow the performance. The film actor, one of the highest paid in France, recently took up official residence in Belgium and obtained Russian nationality to lower his income tax bill. Depardieu was criticized as 'rather pathetic' by French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault last December for his departure to Belgium, which sparked an angry response from the actor, who said he was handing back his French passport." Continue reading →

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Munich football boss’s Swiss account becomes German political football

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday distanced herself from Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, whose Swiss bank account and alleged tax dodge has poured fuel on a heated election-year debate. 'Many people in Germany are now disappointed in Uli Hoeness,' said Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert about the football club chief. The 61-year-old football legend voluntarily disclosed a Swiss bank account in January and was working closely with investigators on a tax evasion probe. At a Bayern Munich press conference, journalists were told that the event would be immediately scrapped if anyone asked about the tax issue." Continue reading →

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Top ten celebrity expats living in Switzerland

"When was the last time you saw packs of photographers door-stepping the Swiss home of a star or politician? The answer is probably never. Welcome to Switzerland – the land where the rich and famous can walk down a busy street without anyone so much as batting an eyelid. Here, even the very notion of celebrity seems foreign. It’s no surprise, then, that increasing numbers of global celebrities are choosing the Swiss mountains over the Hollywood hills. Of course, camera shyness isn’t the only reason why celebrities choose to move there. Switzerland's famous tax breaks for rich foreigners have reportedly drawn many a minted magnate in recent years." Continue reading →

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Zurich Mayor Renounces U.S. Citizenship Amid Tighter Tax Rules

"Corine Mauch, 52, a member of the Socialist Party born in Iowa City, Iowa, returned her passport to the U.S. Embassy as she regards Switzerland as her home and doesn’t want to deal with IRS paperwork. 'My relationship with the U.S. is limited to my very early youth,' said Mauch, who retains Swiss citizenship. 'Neither the double taxation or any new directives on the taxation of U.S. citizens outside the U.S. have affected this decision. But I won’t miss the U.S. tax bureaucracy either.' The U.S. is the only nation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that taxes citizens wherever they reside, including an estimated six million expatriates." Continue reading →

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Tina Turner claims Swiss citizenship

"Tina Turner, the US-born singer famed for hits such as 'Private Dancer' and 'What’s Love Got to Do With It', has become a Swiss citizen, the Swiss newspaper Blick reported. The 73-year-old retired entertainer, who has lived in Switzerland for nearly two decades, received her red Swiss passport with its distinctive white cross on it on Monday, the publication said. Swiss media reported in January that Turner was to hand in her US passport when she got her Swiss one. She was quoted as saying that 'I cannot imagine a better place to live' than in the European Alpine state, where privacy laws are strictly enforced." Continue reading →

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Jim Sinclair: Swiss Bank Refuses Physical Gold Delivery On “Anti-Terrorism” Grounds

"A person that I know with significant deposits in one of the primary Swiss banks, in allocated gold, wanted to take out his gold and was just refused on the basis of directives from the central bank. They told him the amount was in excess of 200,000 Swiss francs and the central bank had instructed them not to do it because it has to do with anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering precautions. I really wonder whether those are precautions or whether the gold simply isn’t there. It has to raise our suspicions that the lack of physical gold behind the paper gold is literally so severe that we are coming to understand that it is in fact not there." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJim Sinclair: Swiss Bank Refuses Physical Gold Delivery On “Anti-Terrorism” Grounds

German Tax Officials Launch Nationwide Raids With Stolen Swiss Bank Data

"A total of five German states clubbed together to buy the CD for €4 million from an anonymous informant, said sources close to the Rhineland-Palatinate government, which arranged the deal. The information was distributed to tax authorities across Germany some six weeks ago. Tuesday's raids only mark the start of an extensive investigation that could last until the end of the year. Authorities expect that the media coverage of the raids will prompt many tax evaders to turn themselves in to authorities so that they can lessen their penalties. The current raids affected customers with accounts in Credit Suisse, the former Clariden Leu AG and Neue Aargauer Bank." Continue reading →

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A Ton Of Gold Bricks: What Capital Flight Looks Like In Italy

"Curious why so little has been said about cash flowing out of Italy's banks, especially when even UniCredit's CEO today proudly warned everyone he is all for confiscating uninsured deposits as long as 'everyone else is doing it' - and no, he is not kidding, so when it does happen, nobody will be able to say they weren't warned. Maybe it is because Italian cash is actually not leaving the country at all. Instead, real 'wealth' is departing the boot-shaped nation, quietly and under the radar, as fast as it can in another form: gold. Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Ton Of Gold Bricks: What Capital Flight Looks Like In Italy