Swiss banking secrecy could come under growing pressure from foreign governments, Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ackermann told Swiss Sunday paper NZZ am Sonntag. "Political pressure will increase from the USA and the EU. Switzerland would be well advised to go on the offensive over this topic," said Ackermann.
Last week, Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz said a US tax probe into Swiss bank giant UBS UBSN.VX would not undermine banking secrecy in Switzerland, which the nation will continue to defend.
On Thursday, US authorities indicted UBS board member and wealth management chief Raoul Weil for helping Americans hide $20 billion form the taxman. The US Department of Justice had already forced the Swiss bank to hand over data related to US onshore client accounts as part of its investigation into alleged tax fraud by some of its American customers. In a separate interview with NZZ am Sonntag, Luxembourg's prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, said banking secrecy should not be abolished, whether in his country or Switzerland.
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