A Balancing Act What Is In The Data Leak And Why Are We Publishing It?

In popular culture, there is nowhere safer to stash your cash than the vault of a Swiss bank.

- Paul Lewis

From thrillers to spy novels, Swiss bankers are depicted as discreet men who know which questions not to ask.

Switzerland dismisses such stereotypes but its reputation as one of the premier tax havens has not come from nowhere. The country has nurtured, codified and even advertised the discretion of its bankers for centuries.

Over the past decade, however, things have started to change. When Switzerland began requiring its banks to share client data with some foreign authorities under a global exchange system to combat tax evasion in 2018, it was heralded as a watershed moment. Some called it the end of Swiss banking secrecy.

Our reporting suggests that conclusion was overblown. Swiss banks do share tax data with countries but developing nations are excluded. Meanwhile Switzerland’s famed banking secrecy law – article 47 of the 1934 Federal Law on Banks – remains in force. Those who fall foul of it risk five years in jail.