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Michael Ambuehl, Switzerland's State Secretary for International Financial and Tax Matters

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Michael Ambuehl has been named Switzerland’s State Secretary for International Financial and Tax Matters, head of a new secretariat within the Federal Finance Department. Ambuehl is probably best known as the man who negotiated the UBS arrangement with the United States Justice Department in early 2009. The new secretariat “will serve the purpose of reinforcing Switzerland’s international position in financial and tax matters,” the official announcement states.

The new office will be responsible for Switzerland’s interests in the International Monetary Fund and in the Financial Stability Board, and it will “actively participate in international efforts to combat financial crime. Moreover, it will analyze developments in the financial markets in Switzerland and abroad, and will further develop legislation concerning the financial sector.”

Ambuehl is thus charged with overseeing Switzerland’s ambitious project to play a more aggressive role in international finance and tax matters, as it tries to shed a reputation as a tax haven, which the Swiss say is largely a misperception.

The country has signed several new bilateral tax agreements in line with OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) norms, and it is negotiating several others.

The new secretary is an experienced diplomat, appointed an ambassador in 1999, as well as negotiator: From 2001-2004 he was Switzerland’s lead negotiator in bilateral negotiations and he was earlier a member of the negotiating team in bilateral negotiations between the European Union and Switzerland. He was also head of the economic division of the Swiss embassy in New Delhi and served as head of the Foreign Affairs Department’s integration office for some years.

Ambuehl, born in 1951, holds a doctoral degree from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He will be supported by Alexander Karrer, who developed and, as ambassador, has led the Monetary Affairs and International Finance division in the Foreign Affairs office. He holds a degree from the Graduate Institute in Geneva.