Bank secrecy

<h2 id="switzerland">Switzerland</h2>
<p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Banking_in_Switzerland/k4lupIuQ">Banking in Switzerland § Banking secrecy</a></p>
<h2 id="united-states">United States</h2>
<p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Banking_in_the_United_States/YVxmbvjy">Banking in the United States § Banking privacy</a></p>
<h2 id="europe">Europe</h2>
<p class="note">Main articles: <a href="/facts/Economy_of_Europe/BR8LjUn4">Economy of Europe § Investing and banking</a>, <a href="/facts/Offshore_financial_centre/bgft3MCA">Offshore financial centre § EU withholding tax</a>, <a href="/facts/Tax_evasion/4DSQPEhX">Tax evasion § By country</a>, and <a href="/facts/Tax_evasion/4DSQPEhX">Tax evasion § Government response</a></p>
<h2 id="overseas-territories">Overseas territories</h2>
<p class="note">Main articles: <a href="/facts/Offshore_financial_centre/bgft3MCA">Offshore financial centre § Confidentiality</a>, <a href="/facts/Offshore_financial_centre/bgft3MCA">Offshore financial centre § Taxation</a>, and <a href="/facts/Offshore_financial_centre/bgft3MCA">Offshore financial centre § Offshore financial structures</a></p>
<h2 id="links-to-financial-crime">Links to financial crime</h2>
<p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Financial_crime/VLGofqKl">Financial crime</a>, <a href="/facts/Numbered_bank_account/eFF1sL0T">Numbered bank account</a>, and <a href="/facts/Tax_evasion/4DSQPEhX">Tax evasion</a></p>

<p><a href="/facts/Numbered_bank_account/eFF1sL0T">Numbered bank accounts</a>, used by Swiss banks and other offshore banks located in tax havens, have been accused by the international community of being a major instrument of the underground economy, facilitating tax evasion and money laundering.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> After <a href="/facts/Al_Capone/YspLttMe">Al Capone</a>'s 1931 condemnation for tax evasion, according to journalist <a href="/facts/Lucy_Komisar/abCN4c24">Lucy Komisar</a>:
</p>
<blockquote><p>mobster <a href="/facts/Meyer_Lansky/kdL2KRBb">Meyer Lansky</a> took money from <a href="/facts/New_Orleans%2c_Louisiana/IgCn61KH">New Orleans</a> slot machines and shifted it to accounts overseas. The Swiss secrecy law two years later assured him of <a href="/facts/G-Man_(slang)/naSwFeEq">G-man</a>-proof-banking.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> Later, he bought a Swiss bank and for years deposited his Havana casino take in Miami accounts, then wired the funds to Switzerland via a network of shell and <a href="/facts/Holding_company/nBGIp6rU">holding</a> companies and offshore accounts.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></p></blockquote>
<p>Economist and <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize/3z1Y3oFL">Nobel Prize</a> laureate <a href="/facts/Joseph_Stiglitz/DU3DATT4">Joseph Stiglitz</a>, told Komisar:
</p>
<blockquote><p>You ask why, if there's an important role for a regulated banking system, do you allow a non-regulated banking system to continue? It's in the interest of some of the moneyed interests to allow this to occur. It's not an accident; it could have been shut down at any time. If you said the US, the UK, the major <a href="/facts/G7/P5xVoq5y">G7</a> banks will not deal with offshore bank centers that don't comply with G7 banks regulations, these banks could not exist. They only exist because they engage in transactions with standard banks.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a></p></blockquote>
<h2 id="future-research">Future Research</h2>
<p>Further research in <a href="/facts/Politics/1gDNy3RP">politics</a> is needed to gain a better understanding of banking secrecy.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> For instance, the role of economic interests, competition between financial centers, and the influence of political power on international organizations like the <a href="/facts/OECD/CI9W2zGv">OECD</a> are great places to start.
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li>Banks portal</li></ul>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Tangier_International_Zone/KjroxQC1">Tangier International Zone</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Numbered_bank_account/eFF1sL0T">Numbered bank accounts</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Safe_deposit_box/1TUwj2j3">Safe deposit box</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Financial_privacy_laws_in_the_United_States/qbzNsaAc">Financial privacy laws in the United States</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Privacy/C269YalS">Privacy</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2>
<ul><li>Guex, Sébastien. 2000. "<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3116693">The Origins of the Swiss Banking Secrecy Law and Its Repercussions for Swiss Federal Policy</a>". <i><a href="/facts/Business_History_Review/U42uo127">Business History Review</a></i>. pp. 237–266.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>O'Donnell, John (January 30, 2018). "Global study names Switzerland as capital of bank secrecy". Reuters. Retrieved June 4, 2016. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-finance-secrecy-index/global-study-names-switzerland-as-capital-of-bank-secrecy-idUSKBN1FJ2I0" target="_blank">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-finance-secrecy-index/global-study-names-switzerland-as-capital-of-bank-secrecy-idUSKBN1FJ2I0</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Gibson, Stuart (April 5, 2017). "Swiss Bank Secrecy—Their Lips Say Yes, But Their Eyes Say No". Forbes. Retrieved June 1, 2018. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxanalysts/2017/04/05/switzerland-their-lips-say-yes-but-their-eyes-say-no/#426d756c5783" target="_blank">https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxanalysts/2017/04/05/switzerland-their-lips-say-yes-but-their-eyes-say-no/#426d756c5783</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Guex (2000), p. 240 <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Bloomberg Surveillance (January 24, 2018). "Tidjane Thiam Says Markets and Volatility Are Going Up". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 24, 2018. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-01-24/tidjane-thiam-says-markets-and-volatility-are-going-up-video" target="_blank">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-01-24/tidjane-thiam-says-markets-and-volatility-are-going-up-video</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>"Financial Privacy". Investopedia. November 17, 2008. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2018. It also prohibits the sharing of client information to affiliates of the institution as well. For example: A customer holds a checking account at a bank. The bank has an investment division as well as an insurance division. The bank may give information to the client about the other needs served by their external divisions, but not vice versa. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180618125619/https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fianancial-privacy.asp" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20180618125619/https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fianancial-privacy.asp</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Thomasson, Emma (April 18, 2013). "Special Report: The battle for the Swiss soul". Reuters. Retrieved May 19, 2018. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-banks-specialreport/special-report-the-battle-for-the-swiss-soul-idUSBRE93H07620130418" target="_blank">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-banks-specialreport/special-report-the-battle-for-the-swiss-soul-idUSBRE93H07620130418</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Schütz, Dirk (2000). The Fall of UBS: The Forces that Brought Down Switzerland's Biggest Bank. Pyramid Media Group. ISBN 9780944188200. <a href="9780944188200" target="_blank">9780944188200</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>Guex (2000), p. 237 <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>Enzmann, Matthias; Fischlin, Marc; Schneider, Markus (2004). "A Privacy-Friendly Loyalty System Based on Discrete Logarithms over Elliptic Curves". In Juels, Ari (ed.). Financial Cryptography. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 3110. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 24–38. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-27809-2_4. ISBN 978-3-540-27809-2. <a href="978-3-540-27809-2" target="_blank">978-3-540-27809-2</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>Young, Mary Alice (2013-07-05). "The exploitation of offshore financial centres: Banking confidentiality and money laundering". Journal of Money Laundering Control. 16 (3): 198–208. doi:10.1108/JMLC-01-2013-0004. ISSN 1368-5201. <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JMLC-01-2013-0004/full/html" target="_blank">https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JMLC-01-2013-0004/full/html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:11"><p>Komisar, Lucy (April 4, 2003). "Offshore Banking: The Secret Threat to America". The Komisar Scoop. Retrieved May 18, 2018. <a href="https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2003/04/offshore-banking-the-secret-threat-to-america/" target="_blank">https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2003/04/offshore-banking-the-secret-threat-to-america/</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:12"><p>Komisar, Lucy (April 4, 2003). "Offshore Banking: The Secret Threat to America". The Komisar Scoop. Retrieved May 18, 2018. <a href="https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2003/04/offshore-banking-the-secret-threat-to-america/" target="_blank">https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2003/04/offshore-banking-the-secret-threat-to-america/</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:13"><p>Komisar, Lucy (April 4, 2003). "Offshore Banking: The Secret Threat to America". The Komisar Scoop. Retrieved May 18, 2018. <a href="https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2003/04/offshore-banking-the-secret-threat-to-america/" target="_blank">https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2003/04/offshore-banking-the-secret-threat-to-america/</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:14"><p>Komisar, Lucy (April 4, 2003). "Offshore Banking: The Secret Threat to America". The Komisar Scoop. Retrieved May 18, 2018. <a href="https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2003/04/offshore-banking-the-secret-threat-to-america/" target="_blank">https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2003/04/offshore-banking-the-secret-threat-to-america/</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:15"><p>Emmenegger, Patrick (March 2014). "The Politics of Financial Intransparency: The Case of Swiss Banking Secrecy". Swiss Political Science Review. 20 (1): 146–164. doi:10.1111/spsr.12092. ISSN 1424-7755. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/spsr.12092" target="_blank">https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/spsr.12092</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Bank secrecy open-in-new

Bank secrecy