Switzerland

Is America now the largest and most secret tax haven?

"According to the Financial Secrecy Index, America ranked #5 in 2011 in banking secrecy, trailing only after Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Hong Kong. America created FATCA to destroy its competition, forcing other countries to provide America with financial data while rejecting reciprocity. With America pushing Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Hong Kong to drop down the ranks in financial secrecy, will America finally succeed in achieving its goal of becoming the world’s largest and most secret tax haven at the expense of innocent Americans abroad whom it harmed in the process?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs America now the largest and most secret tax haven?

Swiss government signs tax compliance deal with US

"Switzerland and the United States have signed a controversial deal aimed at cracking down on wealthy American tax dodgers. The accord further undermines Switzerland’s tradition of banking secrecy. Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference that Switzerland had decided to agree to a bilateral deal with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which allows for certain exceptions, notably for the Swiss insurance sector, pension funds and the Swiss National Bank. Swiss banks active in international financial markets have no choice but to apply the US rules, according to Widmer-Schlumpf." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss government signs tax compliance deal with US

Swiss government signs tax compliance deal with US

"Switzerland and the United States have signed a controversial deal aimed at cracking down on wealthy American tax dodgers. The accord further undermines Switzerland’s tradition of banking secrecy. Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference that Switzerland had decided to agree to a bilateral deal with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which allows for certain exceptions, notably for the Swiss insurance sector, pension funds and the Swiss National Bank. Swiss banks active in international financial markets have no choice but to apply the US rules, according to Widmer-Schlumpf." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss government signs tax compliance deal with US

Peter Schiff: The Biggest Loser

"For the past few generations Switzerland has enjoyed some of the strongest economic fundamentals in the world. The country boasts a high savings rate, low taxes, strong exports, low debt-to-GDP, balanced government budgets, and prior to a few years ago one of the most responsible monetary policies in the world. These attributes made the Swiss franc one of the world's 'safe haven' currencies. Despite the fact that Switzerland was an island of economic health amidst a sea of problems, the reigning economic orthodoxy convinced Swiss leaders that their strong currency was a burden rather than a blessing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff: The Biggest Loser

Swiss Gold Repatriation Almost Reality

"Today, almost one year later we have 90000 supporters for this initiative. Once the 100000 supporters is reached, we are certain that the Swiss National Bank will repatriate their gold holdings. I'm sure those 10000 votes will be reached by March 2013. The SNB hasn't said where its gold is and also hasn't said if it will repatriate their gold all at once, but if they were to repatriate it all at once, it would be almost double the amount that Germany is now repatriating over 7 years: namely 674 tonnes of gold. Other countries who want their gold back are: Ecuador (26 tonnes), The Netherlands (613 tonnes)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss Gold Repatriation Almost Reality

Gun Ownership: American Exceptionalism

"The ownership of weapons in the United States by private citizens is not matched anywhere else in the world. Switzerland is close. The training is far better. The commitment of national defense by an armed electorate in Switzerland is like nothing else in the modern world. Being part of a citizen army is a matter of national pride. This is not the American tradition. The American tradition is far more a matter of individual autonomy, individual ownership of weapons, and not a matter of national pride. Gun ownership in America is not a matter of a defense of the nation or a commitment to a military tradition. It is quite the opposite." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGun Ownership: American Exceptionalism

Tina Turner to become Swiss citizen and give up U.S. passport

"'I’m very happy in Switzerland and I feel at home here. … I cannot imagine a better place to live,' Turner told German language daily Blick. The woman behind such hits as 'Private Dancer', 'Simply the Best' and 'What’s Love Got to Do With It?' will still need a green light from the canton of Zurich as well was federal authorities before she can receive red passport, the two papers reported. Turner spokeswoman Karin Rhomberg told the Zuerichsee-Zeitung that the singer wanted to 'clarify her situation'. 'Tina Turner will therefore also give back her US citizenship,' she said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTina Turner to become Swiss citizen and give up U.S. passport

Switzerland and Britain are now at currency war

"'Everybody is trying to weaken their currency at the same time. The Swiss have got away with it and now the Japanese want to try. The Sandinavians are pulling their hair out. The Turks are cutting rates even though the economy is overheating, and putting in credit controls instead because they don’t want the currency to rise. Policymakers are doing things that if you had suggested four years ago they would have put you in a straitjacket and thrown you in a cell. I don’t rule out anything any longer in this market. Desperate times lead to desperate acts,' said David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwitzerland and Britain are now at currency war

How The Swiss National Bank Went “All In”, Three Times And Counting

"The nation's central bank is printing and selling as many Swiss francs as needed to keep its currency from climbing against the euro, wagering an amount approaching Switzerland's total national output, and, in the process, turning from button-down conservative to the globe's biggest risk-taker. Switzerland's virtue is the root of its problem: broad confidence in the Swiss currency and economy has investors hungry for francs to escape euros, the currency of its shaky European neighbors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow The Swiss National Bank Went “All In”, Three Times And Counting

Swiss bank Wegelin, founded in 1741, to close after US tax evasion fine

"Switzerland's oldest bank is to close permanently after pleading guilty in a New York court to helping Americans evade their taxes. Wegelin, which was established in 1741, has also agreed to pay $57.8m (£36m; 44m euros) in fines to US authorities. It said that once this was completed, it 'will cease to operate as a bank'. Wegelin, based in the small Swiss town of St Gallen, started in business 35 years before the US declaration of independence. It becomes the first foreign bank to plead guilty to tax evasion charges in the US." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss bank Wegelin, founded in 1741, to close after US tax evasion fine