The case
The latest study published by economists Gabriel Zucman (University of Berkeley), Annette Alstadsæter (Norwegian University of Life Sciences) and Niels Johannsen (University of Copenhagen) shows that over the past decade the market share in off-shore assets of the financial market place Switzerland dropped by 50 %, which means that whereas banks in Switzerland managed 49 % of the global off-shore assets in 2006, the rate plummeted to 26 % in 2015.
Source Swiss press
The commentary
Private banking now needs to send simple, clear and convincing messages, as e.g. “activating“ the automatic exchange of information with partner states is subject to conditions such as i) making sure that confidentiality clauses are adhered to and applied, ii) finding out if the past been regulated and iii) safeguarding that market access has been warranted. These are the demands presented in the ordinance to the parliament by the Swiss Federal Council on AEoI, 2015, p. 5450 – PDF. After Fidleg, Finig and Finfrag, one will have to discuss the regulatory measures in Switzerland: Can e.g. Mifid II be adopted for off-shore banking and how can domestic banks and asset managers establish themselves better and develop faster despite regularization? Further, asset management and corporate finance must be promoted by e.g. abolishing transaction duty and stamp duty.
FATCA: Be informed that an updated version of the W-8BEN-E (Rev. July 2017) is available on the IRS homepage: Link.