What’s so special about Swiss bank and why does everyone hold it to the highest point if they want to hide their money? How does it work differently from other banks in other countries?

Question

What’s so special about Swiss bank and why does everyone hold it to the highest point if they want to hide their money? How does it work differently from other banks in other countries?

In: 6

Answer 1

It doesn’t work that differently anymore (basically, post 9/11). There was a huge overhaul of inter-country banking cooperation in the wake of the War on Terror to try to make sure terrorists weren’t hiding their money.

Before that, the big deal with Swiss banks was that they wouldn’t reveal anything to anybody about anything. In most countries, the police/government (or the police/government of other nations if they have a cooperative treaty) could freeze a bank account, or ask who owned it and what their address was, or request transaction records (all with a warrant from a judge, typically). Switzerland didn’t do that…they wouldn’t disclose anything to anyone other than the account owner. It was very secure & very anonymous money storage. This was awfully handy for people who didn’t want their money found…often, but not always, for unlawful reasons in their home country.