Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

The advantage of being a critic is to be able to support or congratulate without being suspected of kindness.
Lucien Thiel, the former chairman of the Luxembourg Bankers' Association that stated a doctrine that I have contested (it is not our duty to control of the taxpayer was honest) and member of the LIGFI, yesterday raised a critical point in the fight against tax evasion :

"Au niveau européen, il existe une pression pour un abandon total du secret bancaire. Or, si des mesures plus strictes sont adoptées seulement en Europe, nous serions défavorisés face à d'autres centres financiers comme Singapour" (free translation : At the European level, there exists a pressure for to give up banking secrecy. However, should stricter rules be adopted only in Europe, we would be disadvantaged vis-a-vis other financial centers like Singapore”

He is right but I wish he had more European team spirit. When he states "nous serions défavorisés" (we would be disadvantaged ) "we" is for Luxembourg, not for European States.

However it is true that every jurisdiction and every parameter (banking secrecy, offshore abuses, corruption, money laundering...) should be taken into account to avoid communicating vases.