The so-called secretive world of Swiss banking continues to show signs of moving towards greater transparency today when France announced it had received the details of thousands of people suspected of evading taxes in undeclared accounts.
Eric Woerth, the French budget minister, said Paris had been given the names of 3,000 French residents who were "very probably" profiting illegally from the neighbouring country's opaque fiscal system.
The value of the assets in the accounts was estimated at about ¤3bn (£2.6bn), he added.
"This is the first time that we have this kind of precise information, with the names, the account numbers and the amounts deposited," he said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. "It's exceptional."
The move, which was not unexpected following the release of US accounts holders information to the IRS will send jitters through the thousands of French citizens thought to escape their own country's fiscal regulations by stashing money over the border, comes days after Paris and Berne signed an agreement aimed at sharing more information on suspected tax evaders. Switzerland, formerly the world's largest offshore banking centre, is attempting to bring itself back in from the cold after its idiosyncratic financial practices were sharply rebuked at the London G20 summit of leaders in April.
Amid an economic crisis which left little patience for the continuing existence of tax havens, Switzerland was put on a "grey list" of countries considered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to be failing to co-operate "substantially" on sharing information. Since then, it has reluctantly promised to help other countries crack down on tax evasion while at the same time seeking to reassure its banks' customers that its protective layer of secrecy will remain.
According to the Swiss finance ministry, the government has now signed taxation agreements in line with OECD recommendations with France, Denmark and Luxembourg, Britain and the United Stateswhich was removed from the "grey list" in July.
Signs are emerging that this tentative new era of co-operation could be yielding some success. This month the Swiss government agreed to provide US tax inspectors with the details of 4,450 accounts with the country's biggest bank, UBS.
Woerth urged those who fear they are on the list of names given to the French authorities to give themselves up and pay the extra taxes and penalties before the end of the year.
Otherwise, he said, the authorities would take legal action to hunt down suspected offenders.
France is keen to pull its weight in the fight against tax havens, which president Nicolas Sarkozy has championed as a crucial part of a drive to "moralise" capitalism in the wake of the global crisis.
News of the fresh assault on tax evasion came just days after Sarkozy announced a series of regulations on traders' bonuses and urged the rest of the G20 nations – due to meet in Pittsburgh on 24 September – to follow suit.
Is anyone still opening SWISS bank accounts or keep their moneys there? You should move your funds to a more secure place as soon as you can, Switzerland isn't the country to have your money in any longer!
Eric Woerth, the French budget minister, said Paris had been given the names of 3,000 French residents who were "very probably" profiting illegally from the neighbouring country's opaque fiscal system.
The value of the assets in the accounts was estimated at about ¤3bn (£2.6bn), he added.
"This is the first time that we have this kind of precise information, with the names, the account numbers and the amounts deposited," he said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. "It's exceptional."
The move, which was not unexpected following the release of US accounts holders information to the IRS will send jitters through the thousands of French citizens thought to escape their own country's fiscal regulations by stashing money over the border, comes days after Paris and Berne signed an agreement aimed at sharing more information on suspected tax evaders. Switzerland, formerly the world's largest offshore banking centre, is attempting to bring itself back in from the cold after its idiosyncratic financial practices were sharply rebuked at the London G20 summit of leaders in April.
Amid an economic crisis which left little patience for the continuing existence of tax havens, Switzerland was put on a "grey list" of countries considered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to be failing to co-operate "substantially" on sharing information. Since then, it has reluctantly promised to help other countries crack down on tax evasion while at the same time seeking to reassure its banks' customers that its protective layer of secrecy will remain.
According to the Swiss finance ministry, the government has now signed taxation agreements in line with OECD recommendations with France, Denmark and Luxembourg, Britain and the United Stateswhich was removed from the "grey list" in July.
Signs are emerging that this tentative new era of co-operation could be yielding some success. This month the Swiss government agreed to provide US tax inspectors with the details of 4,450 accounts with the country's biggest bank, UBS.
Woerth urged those who fear they are on the list of names given to the French authorities to give themselves up and pay the extra taxes and penalties before the end of the year.
Otherwise, he said, the authorities would take legal action to hunt down suspected offenders.
France is keen to pull its weight in the fight against tax havens, which president Nicolas Sarkozy has championed as a crucial part of a drive to "moralise" capitalism in the wake of the global crisis.
News of the fresh assault on tax evasion came just days after Sarkozy announced a series of regulations on traders' bonuses and urged the rest of the G20 nations – due to meet in Pittsburgh on 24 September – to follow suit.
Is anyone still opening SWISS bank accounts or keep their moneys there? You should move your funds to a more secure place as soon as you can, Switzerland isn't the country to have your money in any longer!
