C’mon Switzerland! I mean we are really disappointed in you. You were making all sorts of strong sounding noises and resisting all efforts by the OECD to expose the many self-taught creative tax accountants that comprise such a large slice of your depositors. We were rooting for you. I even put my red and white face paint on. (Scared Bess half to death in the office this morning). We were pissed when we got the news. (You know how hard it is to find red and white face paint on a Thursday night? At least, the non-toxic stuff).
Switzerland’s cabinet agreed at a meeting Friday to support negotiation of bilateral treaties with other countries, under which Switzerland would provide legal assistance for international tax-evasion probes. The treaties would be negotiated based on guidelines from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which require nations to waive bank secrecy for investigations of both tax evasion and tax fraud.
Oh… Switzerland. Don’t call us anymore. Seriously.
Wait… what’s this…? A glimmer of hope?
Mr. Merz says the negotiations should ensure an orderly transition to a new set of rules, including an amnesty legalizing possible tax evasion via Swiss banks prior to a treaty signing.
Ok, you can call, but not after 10:30 pm. And no ass.
As for you Swiss depositors…. move all your tax evading (avoiding) cash over right now! Supplies of Swiss Banking Secrecy™ are limited!
Swiss Relax Bank Secrecy Laws [The Wall Street Journal]
Earlier: Something Is Rotten In The Confederation of Helvetica
nothing will change the fact that all this is because yanks are IRS’s bitches
oh, and no self-respecting offshore bank will deal with those from the land of the free
EP, can you find a new picture for Swiss related stories? The face paint girl is starting to creep me out.
@blndebnker – Oh, that’s face paint? I thought that was a picture of one of Spitzer’s hookers, after one of their “dates.” (Note the bandaids on her face.)
Looks like she came back from a vacation with Art Cashin.
- Fixed Income
The US owns Switzerland. The US treasury lent the Swiss National Bank 90% of the $54bn non-recourse loan with which the SNB partially capitalized the UBS toxic asset fund. Check out the SNB’s balance sheet and tell me if there is any way the Swiss can pay that back anytime soon. At this point anything the US asks for the US gets. Good luck tax evaders!
On a more serious note, watch the right takeover Swiss politics as the population reacts to bending over.
Himmel, Arsch und Zwirn!
- Appenzeller Hausfrau
Who needs Sw’land anyway? WTF did they ever do for me except cause my taxes to be higher because they helped people like Ruth Madoff evade US taxes? F**k Sw’land. Uncle sam should call the 54B loan and bring the fuckers to their knees.
@3 I am pretty sure that is EP.
@9- that’s because you’re a dumb ass.