Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

Le temps has reported that Switzerland is willing to introduce specific provisions in the tax agreements that are to be signed.

- On the one hand, the request of the foreign jurisdiction would describe the behaviour in question, the name of the author, as well as the documents on which the jurisdiction bases its suspicions. If the foreign authority seeks to make raise the bank secrecy protecting the author from supposed tax evasion, the name of the Swiss bank should also be indicated in the request. This requirement of precision aims at preventing fishing with information by foreign tax authorities.

- On the other hand, Switzerland should negotiate the way in which the foreign jurisdiction can collect evidence to refuse requests that are based on evidence on an unlawful basis, according to the Swiss law.

I know that there is a change in progress in Luxembourg. Not with the LIGFI which is an association of the past as it is promoted by leaders of the jurisdictions that never ever repudiated, at least publicly, drifts and abuses in Luxembourg. It is about a major change which transcends the parties. The stake is to substitute the best elements for an old guard.