Screw American Banks - Swiss Accounts Are The Way To Go

[DFF]

And no, you don't have to be wealthy to open a Swiss account.

http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/banking/swiss-bank-account.htm

Primary advantages over US banks:

1)Strict Privacy Laws - Under penalty of 50,000 Swiss Francs, and 6 months in jail, a Swiss banker can't disclose the existance of your account to ANYONE*.
2)Stability, Stability, Stability - Swiss Banks are the most stable in the world - they don't collapse, period.
3)Multi-Currency Accounts - As the name implies, you can have your money in multiple currencies, as a safety net in the event the dollar hyperinflates.
4)Neutrality - Switzerland hasn't fought a war since the 1500's, and they won't have to anytime soon, as every nation in the WORLD has vast amounts of money stored in their banks.

*A few exceptions apply (e.g. money laundering, drug trafficking)

[Promo]

That's funny, I am Swiss and have a Swiss account and I was just watching 2 regional banks directors (UBS, Credit Suisse) saying that it's a shame that Lehman Brothers wasn't bailed out as that would have softened the fall. The UBS guy went as far as saying that government interventation is a blessing :(

I wonder if they've been checking out the DOW after todays bailout..


Edit: still, I agree on the advantages you pointed out

[DFF]

Not surprising. Both UBS AG and Credit Suisse had their hands DEEP in the sub-prime pie and each had to make massive write downs.

[Promo]

Yeah, I can still see the headlines.. and now they say the worst is behind us. We'll see, somehow I'm not too convinced

[DFF]

I think you're economically safer off where you are...heck, I've even considered moving to Switzerland...although I don't speak German...only English...so that would be a problem...I suppose.

[Promo]

I don't know about the language, English is widely accepted in most cities as there are a lot of foreigners, as for work you could probably look for some US company that has a Swiss branch

let me know if you ever need any specific information

[DFF]

Thanks. I just might do that. :)

[fedup100]

Switzerland just caved this year and coughed up all personal info on Americans and signed a big deal with the IRS.....no thanks. When your funds are off shore, they ARE off shore.

[qh4dotcom]

Switzerland just caved this year and coughed up all personal info on Americans and signed a big deal with the IRS.....no thanks. When your funds are off shore, they ARE off shore.

Source?

[h_kap]

Switzerland just caved this year and coughed up all personal info on Americans and signed a big deal with the IRS.....no thanks. When your funds are off shore, they ARE off shore.

If a Swiss bank has branch in US and if you have an account with the US branch, the privacy laws are no different than any other American bank as they have to adhere to the US Banking rules. Your privacy is only protected if you open an account with a Swiss bank in their country.

[fedup100]

If a Swiss bank has branch in US and if you have an account with the US branch, the privacy laws are no different than any other American bank as they have to adhere to the US Banking rules. Your privacy is only protected if you open an account with a Swiss bank in their country.

No longer true.

[DFF]

Tax evasion is not a major crime in Switzerland. Ergo, if you open up an account in Zurich, your privacy is protected. The IRS can contact your bank, but they'll get stonewalled. Your banker won't tell them squat. Only crimes which Switzerland considers major can your account information be subject to disclosure. Big emphasis on the word "can."

[powerofreason]

Luxembourg > Switzerland when it comes to bank privacy.

[powerofreason]

err I think its Lichtenstein. whatever lol.

[Dianne]

The US government crooks are way ahead of you............. no way they're going to let your money get out of the US when they can steal everything you own. They applied some very serious pressure the Swiss into no longer providing swiss bank accounts to Americans (Americans only).

http://www.panamalaw.org/UBS_closing_accounts_of_americans.html


UBS Closing Accounts of Americans
Introduction – UBS, the large Swiss bank, has come under attack from the USA regarding their operating inside the USA. They ran seminars inside of the USA promoting their offshore Swiss Banking and Lichtenstein Trusts. Of course the first mistake was operating physically inside of the USA. Their second mistake was offering tax reduction strategies inside of the USA. From there the errors just added up giving the USA Authority, Venue and Jurisdiction over UBS.

The USA eventually arrested a UBS banker in the USA. This banker in return for a diminished sentence provided testimony about UBS actions violating USA law. The Justice department then got an order from a USA court to get the UBS Swiss banking records on some 20,000 Americans. The USA does not have the names but estimates the amount of Americans opening accounts at UBS from 2002 to 2007 to be 20,000.

Analysis – It would appear that UBS will give the impression of cooperation. They will likely turn over the records of any USA person the USA has the names of in connection with any alleged tax fraud according to a treaty the USA has with Switzerland. The treaty calls for cooperation in cases where an income tax return was filed fraudulently with intent. This means if one understated their income the banking records would be producible under the terms of the treaty.

The USA wants to turn this into a fishing expedition asking for all USA person’s records for a five-year period of time. The Swiss will most likely not take this seriously since this is far beyond the scope of the treaty. The USA is implying that any USA citizen with a UBS bank account is a tax fraud without any evidence. If the USA has some shred of evidence on an individual UBS will probably turn over the records but selectively. The Swiss do not want to anger the Americans by harboring people filing false returns but they also do not want to ruin the Swiss banking Industry. One can only sell so much chocolate and watches.

The Swiss Fix – The way UBS see their way clear here is to close the accounts of any USA persons and not allow any such new accounts to be opened. They will allow USA persons to have accounts with UBS businesses operating in the USA under USA license. A UBS bank physically in the USA would be under USA laws and thus no bank secrecy or asset protection at all. It is likely that other banks in Switzerland and elsewhere will adopt such a policy to avoid encounters with the USA. This of course is the victory the USA was hoping for. They have been trying for years to combat the tax and privacy havens without much success. If they can get them to stop opening accounts for Americans and close the existing accounts that is a big victory. Of course most of the unfortunate Americans using UBS will simply more their funds to another jurisdiction.

Collateral Damage – UBS bank will be telling the USA citizens goodbye and usually this involves a nominal period of time to provide the bank with wiring instructions to send the funds from the closed accounts. The USA will be watching these outgoing wires with vigor and enthusiasm to see what they can learn about the UBS depositors. If these were personal accounts, doom and gloom on the account holder because they can see from the wiring information the names of the account holders and thus audit them or whatever. If the UBS account was a corporation or foundation the account owner could wire it to say an anonymous Panama corporation or foundation and thus their identities would be concealed and they could safely recover their funds.

Protection for the Client – We can speculate as to whether or not this sort of thing will happen in other banks in Switzerland and in other countries. The UBS bank really asked for this legally. Most don’t understand the law and are oblivious to the legality but UBS walked right into this one by handing the USA jurisdiction and authority by setting up tax reduction offices and seminars inside the USA and they got slammed. It is probably not going to go further to other countries but the scare value is great and the media is exploiting this.

The way to protect yourself from such an attack or fishing expedition in the future is to get a second passport and driver license from another country. Do this under a different name by having a name change in the judges chambers sealed by the judge so there is no trail to your new identity. Now you are you – same person, same picture, same signature, just a new name. This is not illegal. Many citizens of many countries hold dual citizenships.

Opening a bank account under your other identity documents is also not illegal. Dual nationals open bank accounts commonly with their second set of ID and have been doing so for years. Some people I met legally have seven passports and citizenships. So if the bank records, corporate records and stock broker records have you as a citizen of a small country that does not tax offshore income you will not be caught in any of these fishing nets.

Banking in a country that is not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for tax collectors like Switzerland is, can also be a good idea. We advocate Ecuador and Guatemala for this. They are relatively small countries with solid democracies and solid banking. These countries are most unlikely to cooperate with other countries except in cases of major criminality. Remember the Swiss signed a tax information sharing agreement with the USA some years ago and that is what the subpoena for the 20,000 banking records is based on. Panama has no tax treaties with any country.

[Knut Schreiber]

Yeah, the government thiefs are more and more trying to limit possibilities to escape their greedy hands. The German Intelligence Agency paid a banker from Liechtenstein millions for stolen data about German "tax sinners" (that's actually what they are called over here). Even one CEO of a huge German company (Deutsche Post) was arrested (not feeling sorry for him, he was an old government buddy who got too greedy). And they are applying lots of pressure on Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Is it true that they are planning an "exit tax" for people who want to leave the US? Because this is getting really scary


Switzerland is my number one place to go, too. But surrounded by the EU it's only a matter of time until this castle will fall.

[freelance]

Yeah, the government thiefs are more and more trying to limit possibilities to escape their greedy hands. The German Intelligence Agency paid a banker from Liechtenstein millions for stolen data about German "tax sinners" (that's actually what they are called over here). Even one CEO of a huge German company (Deutsche Post) was arrested (not feeling sorry for him, he was an old government buddy who got too greedy). And they are applying lots of pressure on Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Is it true that they are planning an "exit tax" for people who want to leave the US? Because this is getting really scary

Switzerland is my number one place to go, too. But surrounded by the EU it's only a matter of time until this castle will fall.

For now, at least they're safe.

Yes, it's true about the exit tax. Here's a scarier one: California is going to have a referendum to decide on a STATE exit tax. They are bound and determined to limit movement.

http://www.sovereignsociety.com/Default/InsidiousNewExitTaxMayCostExpatsDearly/tabid/1765/Default.aspx

http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/23553.html

[daviddee]

...

[Knut Schreiber]

For now, at least they're safe.

Yes, it's true about the exit tax. Here's a scarier one: California is going to have a referendum to decide on a STATE exit tax. They are bound and determined to limit movement.

http://www.sovereignsociety.com/Default/InsidiousNewExitTaxMayCostExpatsDearly/tabid/1765/Default.aspx

http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/23553.html

That's really scary. The day a "exit tax" is seriously debated here is the day I will definitely pack my stuff and leave (if I haven't yet) - as long as it's still possible. In socialist Germany we have been even further in the past by building a freaking wall where you got shot when you tried to escape. I'm afraid things are heading this way again.

[DFF]

This caught my tax-avoidance eye in the article about UBS:


The way to protect yourself from such an attack or fishing expedition in the future is to get a second passport and driver license from another country. Do this under a different name by having a name change in the judges chambers sealed by the judge so there is no trail to your new identity. Now you are you – same person, same picture, same signature, just a new name. This is not illegal. Many citizens of many countries hold dual citizenships.

Opening a bank account under your other identity documents is also not illegal. Dual nationals open bank accounts commonly with their second set of ID and have been doing so for years. Some people I met legally have seven passports and citizenships. So if the bank records, corporate records and stock broker records have you as a citizen of a small country that does not tax offshore income you will not be caught in any of these fishing nets

So one could surmise from this that you could go to a tax haven country such as Panama, acquire a new name, citizenship, then could invest in US - or whichever country's securities you desired - completely under the nose of the IRS. Hmmm...