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| Switzerland launches task force to defend banking secrecy |
| Genava, 25.02.2009 |
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| GENEVA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz has launched a special task force to try to defend banking secrecy in the face of mounting international pressure, the official Swissinfo news website reported Wednesday.
Merz will enlist the help of bankers, diplomats, economists and legal experts to help ward off attacks, according the report.
Banking secrecy is a fundamental pillar of the Swiss financial center and has helped it corner nearly a third of the world's private banking business. But it also stands accused of helping wealthy foreigners dodge taxes in their own countries.
On Wednesday UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, paid 780 million U.S. dollars in fines to the U.S. authorities and agreed to hand over details of 250-300 U.S. customers to avert criminal proceedings relating to a tax evasion investigation.
The United States, however, has demanded details of another 52,000 UBS clients. Major European Union countries such as Germany and France have also increased their pressure on Switzerland over its banking secrecy law.
"Pressure has been building up on an international level about the tax system. We need legal experts, those who know the situation in the U.S. and in Switzerland. Also bankers, economists and people with diplomatic expertise," Merz was quoted by Swissinfo as saying.
"We have to take decisions on strategic issues in the next few days," he said.
According to the report, Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf will raise the issue of banking secrecy during a trip to the Washington next week.
odkaz na stránku
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Address : Euro-Brew Ltd., Hlboká 22, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Tel. : +421 33 53 418 53, Fax : +421 33 53 418 52, E-mail : info@eurobrew.sk |
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