Financial Transparency Coalition

Switzerland faces economic sanctions if it delays opening up its notoriously secretive banks to international scrutiny. The threat will be made today by world finance ministers in a key meeting to discuss how to broaden the crackdown on tax havens that are draining exchequers of tens of billions of dollars each year.

Switzerland has signed a tentative agreement to share information with the United States about the billions of dollars that US citizens have stashed in secret Swiss bank accounts.

WASHINGTON--As part of the Obama Administration's aggressive efforts to enforce U.S. tax laws and reduce offshore tax evasion, the U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the conclusion of negotiations with Switzerland to amend the U.S.-Switzerland income tax treaty to provide for increased tax information exchange. Official signing of the protocol is expected in the next few months.

For more than half a century the Alpine nation of Switzerland has built a reputation as the world´s centre for tax evasion, fraud accounting, money laundering, racketeering, save haven and above all a staunch ally of corrupt third world leaders and a great beneficiary of third world corruption. For more than 70 years various categories of persons including Popes, presidents, prime ministers, corrupt dictators, wealthy business men, and drug dealers have all used and benefited from the banking secrecy laws of Switzerland. As a result her economy has been described in various terms as underground economy, deposit box for...