Switzerland has been one of the largest offshore financial centers and tax havens in the world since the mid-20th century.
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These laws, which were used to protect assets of persons being persecuted by Nazi authorities, have also been used by people and institutions seeking to illegally evade taxes, hide assets, or generally commit financial crime.Ĭontroversial protection of foreign accounts and assets during World War II sparked a series of proposed financial regulations seeking to temper bank secrecy, but with little success. Starting as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934 with the passage of the landmark federal law, the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks. Switzerland has a long, kindred history of banking secrecy and client confidentiality reaching back to the early 1700s. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland, along with the Swiss Alps, Swiss chocolate, watchmaking and mountaineering.
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.īanking in Switzerland dates to the early eighteenth century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Pictured: the Mont Cervin Palace in Zermatt.