The Benefits of Swiss Banking

By Richard Price
July 2006

Switzerland is the world's largest offshore financial center; larger than London, New York or even Frankfurt.

The Swiss banking sector as a whole has established this dominant position through a long tradition of political, economic and financial stability and some key principles, one of which is Swiss banking secrecy.

Swiss bankers have also built a solid reputation for managing investment portfolios for their clients and providing a wide array of services such as estate planning, wealth management, trust companies, Gold numismatics, Derivatives and confidential brokerage accounts.

Swiss law is especially strict about any breech of confidentiality, whether in banking or in other commerce. All banking Employees must sign the secrecy portion of the banking act as a condition of employment. The banking act also adds a special section making it a criminal offense, with the possibility of jail, time for any employee or agent who has been deemed to have improperly divulged any confidential information. These portions of the banking law have been interpreted, both in practice and by the courts, to make it a serious offense to divulge any information about a bank customer to a third party, including official requests from foreign governments.

It’s no small wonder that Swiss bankers are very popular in the world of offshore banking.