Swiss Bank
Swiss banks hit the news when
WikiLeaks exposed some details about black money deposited by Indians in Swiss
banks. So, let’s have a look Why Swiss banks are so popular (or notorious?)
The reasons behind the popularity of
Swiss bank are:
·
Because
of large amount of gold reserves, Swiss currency Francs is one of the most
stable currencies in the world.
·
Swiss
banks provide best quality of banking services which includes use of latest and
sophisticated technology.
·
Switzerland
has not been in war with any country since 1505. So, it is free from political
instability.
·
Security provided by Swiss banks.
But the most important reason why Swiss banks are so
popular is their Privacy.
Swiss banks are known for their
privacy. Although there is no such account as “Totally Anonymous Account” but
Swiss banks are forbidden by Swiss law from disclosing account holder’s
information to third party (including Swiss government), unless and until it is
a criminal case and ordered by Swiss court. And because of this
confidentiality, Swiss banks attract large amount of black money from around
the world. Swiss bank employees are not allowed to disclose any information
about the account holder and if they do so, they may face six month prison or
50,000 Swiss francs.
Swiss banks offer different kind of
accounts but the most popular one is the Numbered account. Information
concerning to the numbered account is restricted to senior bank officials only.
Although totally anonymous account is not allowed by the Swiss government and
in case of criminal investigations government has an access to the account
information. But apart from that Numbered Account follow a very strict privacy
policy. Numbered bank account requires minimum $ 100,000 as initial bank deposit
and $ 300/year maintenance fees.
Trivia: As of 2008, there are 327 authorized
banks and securities dealers in Switzerland among that UBS and Credit Suisse
are the biggest two.
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