Switzerland

Swiss court OKs Credit Suisse client data transfer to IRS

"Switzerland's highest court ruled on Friday that Swiss bank Credit Suisse was free to transfer data to US authorities concerning clients suspected of tax dodging, ending a long series of legal challenges. In its decision, the Alpine country's Federal Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Credit Suisse clients and gave its blessing to a request made in 2011 by Washington for data on clients suspected of evading US taxes. The federal court on Friday ruled that Washington's broad request 'was not a fishing expedition' even though the request did not specifically name the suspected clients." Continue reading →

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China, Switzerland sign free trade agreement

"China and Switzerland on Saturday signed a free trade agreement (FTA) - Beijing's first in continental Europe - in a deal that comes against a backdrop of trade tensions between the Asian giant and the European Union (EU). Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and Swiss Economy Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann inked the accord in a ceremony at the Commerce Ministry in Beijing before officials and reporters. Afterwards, they clinked glasses of champagne in celebration of the agreement, which aims to increase the $26.3 billion in bilateral trade they recorded in 2012." Continue reading →

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Switzerland Will Join Race to Be Trading Hub for China’s Yuan

"Switzerland plans to bid to become an offshore yuan trading center in Europe, competing with Frankfurt and London to corner trade in the Chinese currency. 'It is in Swiss interest to have a renminbi hub in the center of Europe,' Economy Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann said in Beijing yesterday after signing a free trade agreement with Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng. While no official talks have taken place, Schneider-Ammann said he hopes the idea will become 'more serious' in the coming weeks or months." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Special Independence Day Edition

"Eventually history will tell the story of how Edward Snowden came out and revealed the extent to which the feds - under the guise of protecting us from terrorism - were laying the foundation for a police state. This was deeply disturbing to thoughtful people...if there were any...who feared the rise of an all-knowing, all-powerful Big Brother, from whom no secrets are kept, from whom no desires are hidden. And it was disturbing too to the Big Brothers themselves. They insisted on knowing everything about everybody else's business. But they made it a crime to reveal what they were up to! In short, nobody likes a snitch...and a snoop especially dislikes a snitch." Continue reading →

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Scientists invent contact lenses that bestow telescopic vision

"Researchers in Switzerland and San Diego said this week that they have developed contact lenses that can bestow telescopic vision upon the wearer. The contacts work in conjunction with a set of special glasses that wouldn’t seem that unusual by themselves. Inside the lens, a tiny ring reflects light back and forth with hundreds of aluminum mirrors. Those mirrors are positioned precisely so that all the points of light come together in an image projected onto the eye that depicts the world magnified by 2.8 times, according to the BBC. The project was funded through the U.S. Department of Defense’s research wing DARPA." Continue reading →

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Swiss government reveals ‘solution’ to settle US tax dispute

"The federal government revealed plans in Bern on Wednesday to settle a bitter dispute with Washington after lawmakers rejected a deal that would have halted US legal action against Swiss banks suspected of stashing cash for American tax dodgers. Rather than a blanket accord, Swiss banks will now have to apply on a case-by-case basis for government permission to cooperate with US investigators, Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said. The moves comes two weeks after the Alpine country's parliament shot down the controversial 'Lex USA' accord, which would have temporarily lifted Switzerland's long-sacrosanct banking secrecy." Continue reading →

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‘Top French politicians had Swiss accounts’

"A former executive of a Geneva-based bank says he gave authorities in France a list of 15 former and current French cabinet ministers with secret Swiss bank accounts. Pierre Condamin-Gerbier, formerly with Reyl & Company, said on Wednesday he had submitted the list of 'big names' to investigators. Condamin-Gerbier was a witness before a French parliamentary commission investigating France’s former Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac, who resigned in disgrace in March over an undeclared foreign bank account said to contain around €600,000. Cahuzac is now facing charges of tax fraud. He had earlier said the list contained a number of well-known names." Continue reading →

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UBS starts Singapore gold-vault service amid bullion rout

"Switzerland’s biggest bank started storing gold for wealth-management clients at a facility in Singapore. The leased vault in the Singapore FreePort is available for clients in the city-state and Hong Kong. UBS joins Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in offering storage services in Asia. The Singapore government has been promoting the country as a bullion-trading hub, removing a 7 percent sales tax from investment-grade precious metals last year. Millionaires in Asia outside Japan [are projected to] create $7 trillion in new wealth by 2016, boosting the share of global riches from emerging markets to about 37 percent from 24 percent in 2008." Continue reading →

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Swisscom boss pledges data is safe

"Swisscom has never released data to the US authorities, he assured the paper. Information is only released in response to requests from the Swiss police request on the basis of a court order. However, Schloter estimated that just 10 to 15 per cent of data linked to all Swiss internet users is actually stored in Switzerland. The rest is stored in data centres abroad, 'mainly in the United States, via Google, Facebook or Twitter'. Meanwhile one in four Swiss internet users said they would change their online behaviour following revelations of far-reaching US surveillance of personal data." Continue reading →

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EBay’s double tax base prompts calls for investigation

"Britain and Germany may have missed out on a combined $1 billion in sales tax since online marketplace eBay picked a tiny Luxembourg office as its base for EU sales, a shift that lawmakers say should now be investigated. EBay, which is headquartered in San Jose, California, moved into Europe in 1999 when it established eBay International in Berne. Switzerland's low income tax regime for foreign companies was highly beneficial for the auction site. The Swiss base also meant, initially, that the company didn't have to charge EU customers VAT. But in 2003, Brussels changed the rules." Continue reading →

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