GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Mark Muller, the Geneva Council member who has been in the news over a New Year’s Eve fight with a barman in the early hours of the year, has acknowledged he attacked the man. The charges pressed against him by the bartender were dropped, after Muller apologized and paid the man for costs he incurred that evening.
Muller had earlier said the two got into a fight and a week after the MàD disco bartender filed charges against him, the politician pressed charges against the other man.
Thomas Jordan, acting chairman of the Swiss National Bank
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss central bank does not see any risk of inflation for Switzerland in coming months, nor any need to reduce the level of liquidity. However, distortions in the mortgage and real estate market could increase and the Swiss government will soon look at the possible need to intervene.
Thomas Jordan, vice chairman and, since Philipp Hildebrand’s resignation 9 January, interim chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), was addressing the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce Tuesday 6 February in his first major policy statement since taking the reins a month ago. Jordan says the central bank is adhering to its policy of keeping a firm cap on the Swiss franc, a policy that “corrected the overvaluation of the Swiss franc to some extent”.
“Thanks to this decision, investment planning for export-oriented companies has been facilitated, and the risk of both deflation and severe structural damage to the Swiss economy has been reduced. Without this policy measure, the extreme overvaluation of the Swiss franc and its volatility would probably have persisted.”
The SNB set a minimum exchange rate of CHF1.20 per euro in early September of 2011.
A whiff of optimism, but “subdued” outlook might be best we can expect
He offered a crumb of optimism for Switzerland’s financial outlook, saying that “if the European authorities were to credibly commit to a sustainable solution soon, existing uncertainties would be reduced substantially. In such a scenario, demand for perceived safe financial assets would fall in general, and for the Swiss franc in particular”
But he emphasized that we are still living in a world with “substantial downside risks” and the picture could prove worse than today’s “subdued” economic outlook.
“Economic growth will continue to be driven by emerging markets. However, we expect growth rates in China and India – the most important countries in emerging Asia in economic terms – to remain below potential in the near term, due to prior monetary policy tightening, high inflation, and sluggish external demand. Looking at the US, recent data suggest that the situation has improved slightly. However, this should not hide the fact that economic growth in the US is likely to remain sluggish.”
He cites continuing high unemployment in the US and “the fiscal environment remains contractionary. For the euro area – Switzerland’s most important trading partner by far – the economic outlook has deteriorated since last autumn. Uncertainty about an escalation of the sovereign debt crisis is undiminished. As a result, the euro area is likely to face a mild recession in early 2012.”
Liquidity, interest rates and mortgages under debate
Jordan says the SNB’s policy has raised two questions.
“it is argued that the significant increase in liquidity since August 2011 may trigger inflation risks in the longer term. Given the current economic situation, however, expanding the supply of liquidity was a necessary monetary policy response. There is currently absolutely no risk of inflation in Switzerland. First, headline inflation turned negative in October 2011 and continued to decline through the end of the year. It is assumed to fall even further in early 2012. Second, neither our inflation forecasts nor the medium-term inflation expectations from our surveys of households and companies show any signs of inflation risks. Consequently, there is no necessity whatsoever for the SNB to reduce the level of liquidity for the time being.”
The other is the impact of long-term very low interest rates on the housing market.
“On the other hand, a long period of very low interest rates may lead to imbalances in the domestic credit and real estate markets, which may pose serious risks for financial stability. We are well aware of these risks and are analyzing them very carefully. However, due to the exceptional monetary policy situation, interest rates cannot readily be increased to address such threats. In other words, at the current juncture, monetary policy cannot react to these imbalances with conventional monetary policy instruments. Therefore, the Swiss Government is due to decide soon upon the introduction of so-called macroprudential instruments that can be used – if necessary – to mitigate potential credit and housing market distortions.”
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Data privacy concern is increasingly raising its head in US-Swiss talks over taxes, visas and banking. The latest incident is linked to Switzerland’s decision to continue participating in the US visa waiver programme.
Parliament will have its say in US data demands for visa waiver programme
The Swiss Federal Council Wednesday 1 February made it clear it intends to move ahead with negotiations with the US in order to remain in the US visa waiver programme. Switzerland has been part of the programme since 1986 but in October 2009 the US announced that partners in the programme would have to observe two new rules, says Bern. They were told that “partner countries will be required to increase police cooperation. This will entail the conclusion of agreements about the automatic exchange of DNA and fingerprint data to prevent and to combat serious crime (PCSC) and the exchange of data about known and suspected terrorists.”
Swiss media and politicians have been speculating in recent weeks that the US has been pressuring the Swiss government to agree to the new rules and that, given Switzerland’s penchant for privacy and data protection, the Swiss government would refuse. Some 340,000 Swiss travel to the US every year and the visa waiver programme means they can visit as a tourist for up to three months without first obtaining a visa.
But Bern now says it plans to go ahead with the negotiations, noting, however, its own ground rules. The US “requires that two agreements in the security area should be finalized. The Federal Council has instructed the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) to formulate a negotiation mandate in this area. Parliament and the Cantons will be consulted before the final granting of the mandate. Data protection aspects will be duly taken into account in the negotiation of the agreements.”
Double taxation treaty talks bring up data release questions
Bern gives green light to send thousands of e-mails, but they remain encrypted
The sensitive issue comes up just as the lower house of parliament’s tax commission announced, 31 January, that Swiss President and Finance Minister, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf had brought it up to date on US-Swiss double taxation treaty negotiations. Details were not provided except to say that the discussion covered interpretations of “judicial assistance”, a sticking point in the negotiations, and “recent demands by the US”, without elaborating on these.
Swiss-German public radio DSR reported, however, that some 4 to 6 million e-mails, mainly correspondence about banks’ commercial affairs, were being offered to the US by at least some of the 11 banks currently under investigation by the US Department of Justice—but that the correspondance is encrypted and will not be decrypted until the two countries reach an agreement. The e-mails contain the names of client advisers. The banks are suspected by the US government of helping US citizens evade taxes.
Encryption until “global solution” found
Spokesperson Roland Meier of the Federal Finance Department then confirmed to journalists the information published by DSR. He noted that until a “global solution” is found with American judicial authorities, names that are encrypted may not be released unless a legal request is made to Swiss authorities, repeating what Widmer-Schlumpf said on television, “We will only decode when we have found a solution with the United States on all the banks that are under discussion.”
A legal request would need to respect the existing Swiss-US treaty and specifically state that the actions of the person whose information is being requested is punishable under both Swiss and US law. Details, TSR, French
Analysis, in French: Martin Naville, president of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, analyzed the situation in a video interview with RSR radio, “Les choses ont changé” (6 minutes, free but registration required)
Switzerland’s vocal Americans joined by even louder Canadians
Americans in Switzerland, meanwhile, are expressing growing concern about their ability to maintain bank accounts for their daily living expenses, mortgages and pensions, with Swiss banks growing more wary of them as clients given US demands for information. A particular sticking point is the Fatca (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) law that starting in 2014 will penalize financial institutions around the world that don’t comply by revealing the accounts of US persons to the IRS and collect tax withholdings for the IRS from them.
Switzerland’s Americans were some of the first US citizens abroad to become aware of the problem, because of Swiss data protection issues and US efforts to obtain information from Swiss banks. But Americans living in Canadai are becoming increasingly vocal in their resistance to US efforts to obtain data. The larger US expat community in Canada recently formed the Isaac Brock Society, named after Sir Isaac Brock, who prepared Canadians for war with the United States and gave his life in repelling a US invasion in 1812, according to their site.
PARIS, FRANCE / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The French high court (Cours de cassation) in Paris published a ruling Tuesday 31 January that data stolen in 2007 from British bank HSBC in Geneva by its employee Hervé Falciani cannot be used by French tax authorities because it was illegally obtained. Falciani turned over the list of more than 15,000 bank accounts to the French tax office and Nice attorney general Eric de Montgolfier. France identified 3,000 of these as falling under French tax jurisdiction and shared the remaining data with Italy and Portugal.
Swiss news agency ats cites French media as saying that only 800 of the accounts have been reviewed, and the remaining account holders, if they are not yet tax compliant, have nothing to fear from the data theft. The Swiss agency cites “informed sources” as saying that French tax officials knew the information could not be used, but held the data over clients’ heads to pressure them into identifying themselves to the tax office.
Background, GenevaLunch: Falciano and HSBC data theft
BERN, SWITZERLAND - The Swiss Federal Council unveiled two proposed new alcohol laws, one designed to reduce abusive consumption, Friday 27 January. Key points: no sales in shops or for carryout after 22:00, stricter advertising laws that will include online and mobile advertising, and a wider, cheaper range of non-alcoholic drinks aimed at the younger market.
The second takes the Swiss government out of the alcohol sales business completely, ending monopolies on spirits and opening up the market. From the consumer’s point of view there won’t be a significant immediate change because a key policy, the tax on pure alcohol, remains unchanged, at CHF29/litre.
The new laws must be approved by parliament, but changes made to the hotly debated reform “night policy” could help it get through, the council says. An earlier version of the law was put out for consultation and several changes were made as a result.
The night policy ends all retail sales between 22:00 and 06:00, and bans any special offers such as 2 for 1 or happy hours, during the nighttime period. Protecting youth is part of the rationale, with bars and cafes considered better for managing excess consumption and binge drinking than dark corners or spots under bridges.
Bars will be obliged to offer at least three non-alcoholic drinks for prices that are lower than the house’s cheapest alcoholic drink.
Lifestyle and other incentive drinking ads will be banned everywhere, including online and in mobile advertising.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Ireland and Switzerland announced Thursday morning 26 January that they have signed a protocol to amend their double taxation treaty, in the area of taxes on income and capital. Under the terms of the new agreement, which must be approved by both parliaments, each country can withhold up to 15 percent on gross dividend amounts, with some significant exceptions: if “a company holds a stake of at least 10 percent in the capital of the distributing company, the dividends will be exempt from withholding tax. Moreover, there will be no withholding taxes on dividends paid to the national banks of the two countries or to pension funds.”
The amendment also includes a OECD administrative assistance clause. Since the OECD insisted in 2009 that Switzerland revise its treaties to match OECD international standards covering judicial assistance in cases of tax avoidance, Switzerland has revised more than 30 double taxation treaties. Switzerland has proposed in some cases to maintain bank secrecy laws at home while helping other governments collect taxes by using withholding taxes that allow holders of assets to choose if they will declare their accounts in order to recover the tax at home, or not. Such agreements have been signed with France and Germany, but the European Union has said it opposes these on the basis that numerous bilateral agreements are not in line with EU rules.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A fight or an argument? Pushes and shoves or verbal abuse or just heated words? A Geneva judge will have the task in early February of deciding whose word to believe: Mark Muller, Geneva cantonal council member or the bartender at the Moulin dance hall, concerning what really happened in the early hours of 1 January. Cantonal Attorney General Daniel Zappelli will hear the arguments of both sides and decide if charges filed by the bartender should be pressed against Muller.
The bartender filed charges 6 January, saying that Muller had hit him. Muller denies this and he, in turn, filed charges against the bartender 12 January. Muller’s charges have not for now led to an investigation being opened, as is the case with the bartender’s charges.
Meanwhile, reports the Tribune de Geneve, Muller has had a case taken away from him and given to another council member, that of the Moulin à danses, near the old Jonction usine à gaz, which has to move to make way for Geneva’s new green neighbourhood, or éco-quartier.
Paul Richli will prepare report on SNB governance reform needs
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss government is beginning a review of the possible need to reform governance of the Swiss National Bank. The cabinet Wednesday 25 January announced that it has asked Professor Paul Richli to draw up an external expert report that outlines “the tasks and responsibilities currently regulated in the National Bank legislation in connection with supervision of the SNB”. He will also look at the “constitutional room for manoeuvre in terms of possible amendments”, says the Federal Council.
Two federal offices, Justice and Finance Administration, have also been instructed “to submit a proposal for an additional mandate to examine corporate governance within the SNB more closely.”
An interdepartmental working group led by the Federal Office of Personnel has been asked to draw up recommendations for a uniform set of rules if necessary after examining”the existing code of conduct on the abuse of insider information in the Federal Administration”.
The moves come in the wake of the resignation of Philipp Hildebrand as chairman of the Swiss National Bank after a scandal involving family assets. Hildebrand was found innocent of wrongdoing, but the affair prompted widespread calls in Switzerland for a review of the regulations governing board members.
Richli is the rector of the University of Lucerne and he has held, since 2001, the chair of the department of public aw, agricultural law, and theory of drafting legislation at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lucerne.
Possible overheating in real estate: tighten mortgage requirements, gov’t told
Home sweet home in Switzerland: signs the market is overheating
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) 2012 report on Switzerland, issued this week, cautions Bern against allowing consumer debt to build and warns that the real estate market may be overheating.,
The report’s overall assessment is that while Switzerland is weathering the eurozone crisis reasonably well, it remains at risk from the ongoing sovereign debt problems and economic stagnation in the region. The high Swiss franc will continue to pose problems for the export industry, the OECD notes.
“Exceptionally low” short- and medium-term interest rates are contributing to a mortgage boom and high real estate prices, the report states. Some areas are now showing signs of overheating, the report concludes. “Taking into account the high gross debt of households, the risk could increase, for small internal market banks, if there is a sudden rise interest rates.” Household debt in Switzerland is one of the highest in the OECD, it notes, although household wealth is “not negligible” taking into account assets held by the pension system.
Other key points from the report:
- The country’s two big banks, Credit Suisse and UBS, should be required to have higher leverage ratios than the 5 percent proposed by parliament, common equity should play a greater role and the reforms passed by parliament in 2011 should be implemented more quickly than the scheduled completion date of 2019. Parliament’s capital ratio of 19 percent has been praised as going beyond Basel III requirements for banks around the world, but the size of the two big banks in relation to the Swiss economy creates a risk that remains too high;
- Fiscal reforms would encourage economic growth; these should include a higher TVA (value-added tax) with broader coverage to consolidate growth and reduce distortion in the system. At the same time, the tax rate for individuals should be lowered, the OECD recommends, to encourage growth. Switzerland’s tax rates are modest on an international scale, but this is offset by the burden of mandatory health insurance and pensions.
- A number of measures are recommended to reduce CO2 in line with agreed limits by 2020; the OECD recommends an emissions tax on vehicles, saying this is a relatively inexpensive way for the country to reduce CO2 emissions, and it suggests peak traffic and congested area use taxes.
Aerial view of the Graubuenden resort Davos, where the World Economic Forum 2012 is meeting (photo: ©2012 WEF / www.swiss-image.ch, Andy Mettler
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Rich versus poor appears to be the emerging theme used by journalists covering this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. The WEF opened Wednesday morning 25 January with 2,600 participants, mainly heads of state and ministries, and corporate leaders, with some 700 journalists in the wings. The official theme, unveiled a week ago, calls for a new face for capitalism.
This is the 42nd such annual gathering organized by the Geneva-based organization, and it remains the group’s key activity, even though it has branched into organizing other events and it publishes several reports, including the annual Global Competitiveness and Global Risks reports.
Angela Merkel opens the event official Wednesday afternoon.
Journalists have very limited access to the celebrity participants and partly as a result of this much attention was focused in the days leading up to the event on protesters sitting outside, some of whom are living in Mongolian-style tents or igloos. Some but not all appear to be part of the Occupy movement that has protested against capitalism in a number of places in recent months, including near Wall Street in New York.
Reuters talks about the spirit of hope, while Al-Arabiya talks about the gloom; Bill Gates, for his part, is talking about his charity work.
Links to other sites, WEF opening coverage: Al-Arabaya, Aljazeera, BBC, CNN, New York Times, Reuters
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The first international meeting with experts from 15 countries to focus on the Arab spring and returning embezzled funds to Arab nations ended Tuesday afternoon 24 January in Lausanne with a call for greater coordination. The meeting was the sixth in the Lausanne Process, launced in 2001 by Switzerland’s Foreign Affairs Department to promote dialogue between countries affected by corruption and recipient countries of illicitly acquired assets.
The two-day meeting in Lausanne, in the run-up to the World Economic Forum in Davos, pulled in government representatives, specialists and advisors from international organizations to review “first lessons learned”, one year after the toppling of dictatorships in the Middle East began. Switzerland, which was the first country to freeze Tunisian leaders’ assets, 19 January 2011, said in September that the CHF60 million identified in Switzerland is only a small part of the billions hidden but that recipient countries will have to work closely to untangle the money trails.
Mitt Romney (photo, Gage Skidmore / Wikipedia)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whose estimated net worth is $190-250 million, has made public more than 500 pages of tax records after losing the South Carolina primary over the weekend to Newt Gingrich, who accused the former financial investment manager of not coming clean about his wealth. It is the first-ever disclosure by Romney, even though he earlier served as governor of Massachusetts.
Media reaction today in the US to details of the Romney fortune and the couple’s tax record mentions financial accounts in the Cayman Islands and in Switzerland, but focuses on the fact that he is one of the wealthiest candidates ever for the top US office. The Caucas, a New York Times blog, notes that “The Wall Street Journal and financial wire services showed a vast array of investments from a recently closed Swiss Bank account to holdings in Bermuda to the Cayman Islands, all underscoring the breadth and depth of his wealth.”
The disclosure and debate over it are part of growing evidence that a hot presidential campaign topic will be fiscal reform and the disparity between what the rich and other people pay in taxes.
State of the Union address Tuesday night may focus on economic inequality
President Barack Obama will give his State of the Union speech tonight and, according to CBS News, “Economic inequality is emerging as a central theme in the battle for the White House, with Obama trying to harness populist anger at Wall Street and corporations against a backdrop of chronically high unemployment. He plans to call for higher taxes on millionaires in his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night, embracing an idea advanced by billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Occupy Wall Street protesters.”
Media references to the Swiss bank account are generally limited to implying that it is an indication of his wealth and noting that it was closed at the suggestion of political advisors. CBS News reports that “in a conference call with reporters, Brad Malt, Romney’s trustee, called the Swiss account ‘fully legal, fully disclosed’ but said it was closed in early 2010. He added: ‘The income earned on that account is taxed just as any other domestic or other bank account owned by the blind trust.’”
The news channel goes on to note that “pages and pages are devoted to foreign entities in which Romney is invested. Many are located in places like Luxembourg, Ireland and the Cayman Islands, all famous tax havens. None shows much income.”
Reuters, in an article widely picked up, writes 24 January, that “the emerging picture was of a man of great means who contributes mightily to charity. The documents showed he and his wife contributed $7 million in charity over the two years, much of it going to his Mormon church. That represents more than 15 percent of the Romneys’ income for those years”, more than the tax rate paid by the Romneys, with an
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Two new wrinkles appeared Monday 23 January in Swiss media stories surrounding the resignation of Swiss National Bank Chairman Philipp Hildebrand. French-speaking Switzerland’s largest circulation newspaper Le Matin Dimanche yesterday picked up on vague suggestions that have been appearing in German-language media since early January that his wife Kashya, who is American, could have problems with US Fbar (Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) forms.
And Monday the special commission assigned the task of seeing if Hildebrand respected the central bank’s internal regulations confirmed its 21 December findings: Hildebrand was cleared, although the broader issue of moral responsibility for his wife’s currency transaction profits at a time when he was leading Swiss monetary policy remained.
The former chairman resigned 9 January, saying that he could not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, once and for all, that it was his wife who had made currency transactions called into question by a stolen copy of a bank statement.
The two-person commission mandated by the Federal Council, the director and vice-director of the Swiss Federal Audit Office, Kurt Grüter and Michel Huissoud, reported to the Swiss government cabinet last week that after reviewing evidence they had not had access to earlier, e-mail exchanges between Hildebrand and Banque Sarrasin, they confirmed their previous conclusion that the chairman had stayed within the rules of the SNB.
Hildebrand case provides Swiss political fodder
The Hildebrand resignation has remained in the limelight in Switzerland, largely because the major political parties have been meeting during the past week to prepare their strategies for upcoming popular votes. The information about Hildebrand’s wife’s currency deal was broken to media by Christoph Blocher, former head of the right-wing UDC People’s Party, who last week talked about the affair for the first time, in an address to the party’s annual meeting.
It turned out, after Hildebrand’s resignation, that the most damning document shown to media was in fact several patched together by a lawyer and politician who is close to Blocher.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – A looming battle over the extradition of Russian hacker Vladimir Zdorovenin, who is accused by the US of financial cyber crimes, has Zurich caught in the middle. Zdorovenin, 54, and his son Kirill, had been sought by the US for four years before the father was arrested in Zurich 27 March 2011. His son remains at large.
Switzerland, in response to an American extradition requested, handed him over to US authorities after examining the case, and he was flown to New York Monday 16 January. Moscow has angrily said that the extradition was illegal, blaming the US secret services. The exact circumstances of the arrest and the extradition request have not been revealed and Swiss authorities have not commented on the case.
The pair’s names have not been on Interpol’s Red List of suspects wanted internationally.
The Zdorovenins were accused of a number of crimes in a sealed indictment in Manhattan in May 2007. This week the court said that they are charged with 9 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, computer fraud, aggravated identity theft, and securities fraud, according to Russian media.
The Voice of Russia cites Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich as saying that “it wasn’t the first time the US had arrested Russians in third countries under a doubtful pretext and by using provocative methods”, with Lukashevich accusing Washington of applying extraterritorial legislation in its dealings with Russian citizens.
Proposal would allow bank account numbers, balances, capital transactions to be shared in anti-terrorism, money laundering cases
Seeking the full story on money laundering: new Swiss banking secrecy rules may lie ahead
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss banking secrecy could be in for its first serious change, in addition to the pending double taxation treaty with the US.
Wednesday 18 January the Federal Council put out for consultation an amendment to the Money Laundering Law that would allow Swiss authorities to share, with certain foreign government agencies, bank account numbers, information on capital transactions and bank account balances. The information could be supplied if requested as part of money laundering and anti-terrorism investigations.
Today’s proposed legislative changes will now be sent out for consultation until the end of April, at which point the pre-project proposal will be adapted in line with remarks submitted, before it goes through further legislative hoops.
The Swiss-US treaty, which has not yet been approved by parliament, would allow the US to ask for bank data without first providing a name and account number, in a very limited number of cases. It has been reported by US media as a breach in the wall of Swiss banking secrecy, but in Switzerland it is negatively viewed by some politicians as simply a concession to one large nation.
The new proposal would have a far broader impact, affecting working relations with financial investigators in 126 other countries. Support for money laundering laws has, in contrast, been stronger in Switzerland, with the government pushing in recent years to uncover illegal assets of political leaders from elsewhere. As a result, “Switzerland has returned about CHF 1.7 billion to their countries of origin, which is more than any other financial center of a comparable size”, Bern notes, but exchanges with other governments have been hampered by Swiss banking secrecy laws.
Swiss agency will also be allowed to request more information
The changes would also work in the other direction, giving MROS (Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland), the agency through which such requests are made, the power to obtain more information from its counterparts abroad than it can today, given the constraints of Swiss banking secrecy laws.
In future MROS would also be able to demand financial details from third parties that have not themselves announced suspect financial activity, not possible today because of banking secrecy constraints. The government argues, in a statement on the proposed changes, that such occasional requests would improve the quality of the information Switzerland can supply other governments as well as information on suspect cases generated here.
The news was announced in the context of efforts by the federal government to reinforce efforts to fight money laundering and to strengthen the Swiss financial industry. Swiss bankers have been under pressure from other governments, in particular to provide information to tax authorities.
Credit Suissse and 10 other banks are currently under investigation by the US Department of Justice on suspicion of helping wealthy Americans avoid taxes.
The proposal is the result of MROS being the only agency among the Egmont group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) from 127 countries that does not share financial information. The Egmont group in July 2011 decided that MROS’s refusal to share information, on the grounds it contravened Swiss law, runs against the group;s principles, and it threatened to suspend Switzerland unless it showed, within a year, that it is undertaking the steps necessary to change the law.
Emissions created by traffic in Switzerland have risen, not fallen
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland is turning to energy certificates from outside the country to make its CO2 quota for 2008-2012, and environmental group WWF is not happy about it.
The Swiss Federal Council announced Tuesday 17 January that it is signing a new contract with the Climate Cent Foundation to increase its engagement by one ton. The foundation as a result will be reducing CO2 by a total of 5 tons, allowing Switzerland to meet Kyoto objectives by financing CO2 reduction projects outside the country. The WWF reacted angrily, with energy and climate director Patrick Hofstetter calling the federal energy reduction plan “a disaster from start to finish” and qualifying the government’s new move as “maddening, dishonest and incomprehensible”.
Bern notes that without the new agreement Switzerland would not meet its objectives, mainly as a result of increased traffic: statistics for 2010 show CO2 from traffic at 12.9 percent above figures for 1990, when Switzerland is committed to decreasing this by 8 percent.
For the WWF, the move means that Switzerland is not only not meeting emission reduction goals because Bern is not applying the law, but it is also not respecting the spirit of Kyoto by buying more certificates than are authorized. In addition, argues the WWF, important sums are being spent abroad, using money that could be applied to reducing CO2 at home and to reducing Swiss dependence on oil, while creating jobs.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The 3.8 billion pages in English published by Wikipedia will not be accessible Wednesday, the Wikimedia Foundation that runs the site has announced, in protest against pending US legislation that it believes will seriously damage the free Internet. “The blackout is a protest against proposed legislation in the United States—the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the US House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the US Senate—that, if passed, would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including Wikipedia,” the group says on a web page.
The decision was a tough one to make, given Wikipedia’s insistence on remaining neutral about information, it points out. But the largest-ever Wikipedia online discussion, involving some 1,800 “Wikipedians” or volunteer contributors to the site, agreed. Sue Gardner, the foundation’s CEO, writes that “although Wikipedia’s articles are neutral, its existence is not. As Wikimedia Foundation board member Kat Walsh wrote on one of our mailing lists recently,
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- We depend on a legal infrastructure that makes it possible for us to operate. And we depend on a legal infrastructure that also allows other sites to host user-contributed material, both information and expression. For the most part, Wikimedia projects are organizing and summarizing and collecting the world’s knowledge. We’re putting it in context, and showing people how to make to sense of it.
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- But that knowledge has to be published somewhere for anyone to find and use it. Where it can be censored without due process, it hurts the speaker, the public, and Wikimedia. Where you can only speak if you have sufficient resources to fight legal challenges, or, if your views are pre-approved by someone who does, the same narrow set of ideas already popular will continue to be all anyone has meaningful access to.”
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Parents sharing custody of children no matter what their marital state moved a step closer to becoming Swiss law last week when the legal commission of the lower house voted with no opposition in favour of an upper house commission motion to change the law. Custody today is assigned to one or the other or in some cases both parents, in case of divorce.
The Federal Council gave the proposal its backing in November, but it needs the vote of parliament to become law. The lower house commission will now hear arguments about details to the recommended law, before the lower house votes.
It is as yet unclear when the modifications might become law, as they wend their way through the Swiss legislative system.
Changes to the law covering child support are expected to follow, but in a second phase.
Background story, GenevaLunch, 17 November 2011
More cycling paths are on the way in Vaud
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Canton Vaud’s governing council has earmarked CHF425 million for improvements to the transport system over the next seven years, it said Thursday 12 January. The bulk will go to public transport and road improvements, the rest to improved and increased use of renewable energy.
The money comes from unspent funds that are the result of federal and cantonal redistribution of tax monies and is in addition to some CHF300m from the regular budget.
The projects that will receive financial support earlier than planned include: the Vaud RER (regional public transport) system, top-quality bus service for the Lausanne-Morges area and several regional trains: Lausanne-Echallens-Bercher, BièreApples-Morges, Nyon-St Cergue, Yverdon-Ste Croix. The road improvement monies will go to park and ride (P+R) areas, cycling paths and a number of upgrades.
President, head of bankers’ association, say road ahead rough for bank competivity
Swiss President and Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss financial industry is facing tough times which are not likely to soon be easier, two financial leaders said at separate press conferences Thursday.
Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Sclumpf, who is also the country’s finance minister, met with journalists 12 January in Geneva to talk about the future, but the press conference not surprisingly turned to her hectic first 12 days in office.
The Swiss National Bank’s chairman resigned following a scandal, parliament moved into its new session, tax treaty talks with the US are back on the agenda after a holiday break and diplomatic posts were assigned as new ambassadors, including the European Union one, arrived to present their papers.
The financial sector will be a 2012 priority for the government
Widmer-Schlumpf says one of her top priorities is to ensure the stability and sound reputation of the financial sector. The resignation Monday of Philipp Hildebrand as central banker also left Switzerland without its important seat on the Financial Stability Board, an international body of key central bankers who have great influence over world financial policy.
Germany and the UK initialed tax treaties with Switzerland in 2011, as did several other countries (Uruguay and Taiwan in the past two weeks), and one is under discussion with Italy. The European Union opposes such bilateral agreements and has threatened to fight them. The Swiss president said Thursday that Switzerland is ready to review some of the technical issues.
US tax treaty talks: main points sorted out, more discussion needed
The most difficult discussions may be those with the US. Little information has come from either side about the status of the talks, but Widmer-Schlumpf said today that while the main points have been sorted out more discussions are needed. She qualified the talks today: “They are not easy partners, we know that, but still they are constructive.” She added that she hopes the situation can be resolved while respecting Swiss law.
The US Department of Justice is currently investigating 11 Swiss banks for possibly helping wealthy Americans in the US hide money from the IRS (tax arm) and it appears the US is putting pressure on Swiss banks in other ways, with the latest twist reportedly, according to some Swiss media, a demand for the names of all Swiss bankers who have had dealings with US citizens.
The tax talks are taking place in parallel with another Swiss-US set of negotiations, over American requests for access to Swiss police records as part of the US fight against terrorism.
Private bankers and clients face “tsunami of regulations”
Meanwhile, in Bern, the Swiss Privates Bankers Association held its annual day with the press, where President Nicolas Pictet noted that the financial industry in general and wealth management in particular are facing a “tsunami of regulations” that will increase costs and create a number of problems. Penalizing the entire profession “for the mistakes of a few” must come to an end, he argues. “We must stop making it impossible for clients to have room to breathe” – they are the first to suffer when an excess of regulations exists, with the pretext of protecting them.
Pictet did not comment on the specifics of the bank cases under review by the US. He emphasized, however, that while Swiss banks, like any other, must respect the laws of the countries in which they operate, “applying these outside a country is an unacceptable threat for a small export nation” such as Switzerland.
He was echoing concerns voiced by Widmer-Schlumpf 31 December, on the eve of her presidency, who in a radio interview offered a reminder that while banks the Swiss banks embroiled in problems with the US have not broken any Swiss laws, nor committed any moral wrong-doing, those that have broken US law will have to deal with the consequences of that. Part of discussions between the two countries involves clarifying the legal situation.
Yves Rossier will lead the federal Department of Foreign Affairs, replacing Maurer
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Roberto Balzaretti was named Switzerland’s ambassador and head of the Swiss Mission to the European Union, based in Brussels, Wednesday 11 January.
His EU counterpart, Richard Jones (British), presented his credentials to Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf as part of the annual new year diplomatic presentations.
A key appointment was announced Wednesday: Yves Rossier, 51, is the new State Secretary in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), succeeding Peter Maurer, who has taken on the job of president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva.
Rossier began his career in the Department of Foreign Affairs but he has since worked in several government offices, holding varied positions, the most recent of which has been as director of the Federal Office of Social Security in the Department of Home Affairs.
TSR Wednesday evening ran an interview with Kashya Hildebrand from Italian TV, where she apologized to Switzerland and her husband
BERN / ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Swiss political and economic circles were still abuzz Wednesday 11 January with the fallout from the resignation Monday of Philipp Hildebrand as chairman of the Swiss National Bank. New developments:
- the Swiss president came in for criticism for her strong backing of Hildebrand but defended herself, saying she was expressing the view of the Federal Council last Friday
- the selection process for a new bank head got underway
- Hildebrand’s contractual pay package was made public – under the terms of his contract he will continue to receive his annual salary for one year, which was CHF994,800 in 2010; he cannot work for a bank during the next six months, or 12 months in the case of the big banks, under SNB rules
- Thomas Jordan, appointed interim chairman until a new head is found, has made it clear he will maintain the CHF1.20/euro cap on the Swiss franc and continuity appears to be guiding bank policy for now
- Hildebrand’s wife Kashya, interviewed by Reuters in Singapore at an art fair, ended some speculation by saying that she had the idea for the currency exchange so it is her fault but yes, they are still happily married.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss Migration Office’s current backlog of some 3,000 applications must be completed and applications brought up to date by 2013, former Swiss Federal Judge Michel Féraud concluded as part of his final report on applications for asylum in Switzerland.
But the most damning part of his report covers applications from Iraqis at the Swiss embassies in Egypt and Syria, from 2006 to 2008: the judge writes that a Swiss Justice and Police Department decision in November 2006 to not handle the applications was not in line with procedures defined by law, and it violated constitutional guarantees.
Rigid system contributed to decision to ignore applications, backlog
His report implies that the blame lies with the rigidity of the legal situation, according to a Federal Council statement issued 11 January: all Swiss embassies are required to accept and handle asylum applications, although they are not equipped, in terms of staffing, to do so. The applicants, had they been turned down by Switzerland, would not have been obliged to return to Iraq, since they had been accepted by Egypt and Syria.
One of the debates that was taking place at the time was how to better distinguish between legitimate asylum seekers and migrants. The number of asylum seekers grew steadily from the 1970s, federal statistics show, and the resident asylum population peaked at some 105,000 in 1999. The number of applicants has been in the range of about 10-15,000 annually for the past decade just under 11,000 in 2007, with 15,567 applicants in 2011.
UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) figures published in November show that the decline in applications for asylum occurred worldwide, not just in Switzerland, from 2000 to 2010.
Judge not suggesting legal pursuit
Féraud notes that, given the lapse of time and the Federal Council’s stated desire in 2010 to make the regulations less rigid, thus giving embassies more discretion in handling cases, he is not recommending disciplinary action. His investigation did not turn up any acts of wrongdoing such as overstepping the bounds of their authority on the part of government employees.
Blocher headed department in 2005, successors unaware of decision
Christoph Blocher was the federal councilor with responsibility for the Justice and Police Department at the time; his right-wing UDC People’s Party came in for heavy criticism inside and outside Switzerland in 2006 for posters seen to be racist, as the party campaigned to reduce the number of immigrants.
Blocher was succeeded as head of the department by Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf after he lost his seat on the council in December 2007, but neither Widmer-Schlumpf nor her successor as minister with responsibility for the federal office, Simonetta Sommaruga, were informed of the Iraqi applications and the decision to ignore them.
The report was requested by the Federal Council in August 2011 when it was made aware that the applications had not been dealt with for a number of years.
Féraud filed it 22 December and the Federal Council 11 January acknowledged publicly that it had received and is considering the report.
Swiss citizens could need US visas if American demand is met, foreign affairs committee confirms
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The foreign affairs committee of the upper house of Parliament said late Tuesday 10 January that it must be informed if the Federal Council intends to sign an agreement with the US to provide access to police files in the American fight against major crime. It notes that Switzerland, “in the light of recent developments”, must look more closely at the existing crime reduction Operative Working Arrangement II, signed by the two in 2006, to see if from a Swiss legal point of view it needs revision.
The committee did not specify what it mean by recent developments, which could be a reference to US investigations of Swiss banks and reported but unconfirmed threats to indict a Swiss bank, the country’s oldest private bank Wegelin, that have appeared in US media.
Wegelin Tuesday issued a statement that raised the question of the legality of such a move, without confirming that it is being targed by the US Justice Department.
Switzerland has participated since 1986 in the US visa waiver programme, which has given Swiss citizens the right to remain in the US for 90 days without first asking for a visa. The US now envisages, says the commission, signing an agreement with Switzerland as part of the former’s anti-terrorism and major crime fight and it is possible that the US will insist that Swiss citizens need visas to enter the US if Switzerland refuses.
The commission’s remarks appear to confirm Swiss media reports in early December that the US was pressuring Switzerland to sign a “Preventing and Combating Serious Crime” (PCSC) agreement, although the embassy in Bern told GenevaLunch that there is no deadline, but rather ongoing negotiations.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss hotels could be exempt from paying value-added tax in 2012-13 to help them fight business lost because of the high Swiss franc, if a lower house committee vote is duplicated in the upper house.
The finance and economy commission voted 13-12 Tuesday 10 January to make one exception to its refusal to review measures to help fight the over-valued franc, in agreeing to give the hotel industry a year’s grace starting in April 2012.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The head of the Swiss National Bank may have been pushed to resign by the governing board of the bank, Swiss media, particularly in German-speaking Switzerland, are suggesting Tuesday. Philipp Hildebrand handed in his resignation Monday afternoon, after a two-week scandal sparked by information about his wife’s purchase of dollars in August and profit from their sale two months later.
TSR carries a roundup in French of what several media are reporting today, noting that conservative Christoph Blocher, former head of the UDC People’s Party appears, for now, to be the winner in the political brouhaha surrounding the scandal.
Questions remain about whether or not Hildebrand will take legal action against anyone in the case, which involved private bank data being published by Swiss magazine Weltwoche, and what role Blocher played.
Background stories, GenevaLunch
Reuters profile of Hildebrand and his tenure, 10 January
SNB “regrets” his decision and circumstances leading to it – CHF1.20/euro cap remains
Philipp Hildebrand, press conference after he resigned as Swiss central bank chairman
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Philipp Hildebrand, who resigned early Monday afternoon as chairman of the Swiss National Bank, says the decision was his own because “I have concluded that I might not, for some time, be in a position to make the kind of tough decisions and implement them as in the past.”
Hildebrand has been at the centre of a political and media storm for several days over currency transactions that brought his wife CHF60,000 in profit in the second half of 2011. He said at a Monday afternoon press conference called on short notice that “The fact is, my word is my bond. I had no knowledge of my wife’s action. I deeply regret these mistakes as well as the entire situation. . . I have concluded that I might not, for some time, be in a position to make the kind of tough decisions and implement them as in the past.”
He added: “Hopefully I emerge wiser strong and a more experienced banker than I was a few weeks ago.”
The SNB governing board announced that it “regretted” his departure and noted that his decision to leave will not change the CHF1.20 to the euro cap that Hildebrand put in place.
Currency markets reacted to the news with the Swiss franc taking a brief nosedive before Hildebrand’s press conference before the franc closed slightly lower against the euro at CHF1.21 and the dollar, at CHF0.9593.
Hildebrand, who appeared composed and at ease, replied in answer to a question that he had spent hours going over every bit of correspondence, e-mails, phone calls and messages, trying to find something that would refute once and for all, accusations that he might have had advance knowledge of his wife’s action, but he had not been able to come up with that irrefutable piece of evidence.
The credibility of the SNB is its greatest strength, he said, and he wants to ensure that this remains intact, noting that the SNB has contributed significantly to maintaining stability in a world which has recently suffered a number of political and financial crises, notably linked to sovereign debt problems.
“I give my word again: I never lied, things happened as I say they did. But I can’t prove it” absolutely.
Thomas Jordan, vice-chairman, will step into the role of chairman until the SNB appoints a new one.
The Bank Council issued a release noting that “With him, Switzerland is losing an outstanding central banker with excellent international connections, which have brought great benefit to our country.
“Based on the events and findings of the past few days, Philipp Hildebrand has now decided to resign his post. The Bank Council accepts this decision, which Philipp Hildebrand has made in order to protect the institution.
The Bank Council would like to thank Philipp Hildebrand for his outstanding achievements in the field of monetary policy, and for his enormous dedication in the service of both the SNB and Switzerland. Philipp Hildebrand, together with his colleagues in the Governing Board, successfully steered the SNB through a period of exceptional monetary policy challenges. At all times, his endeavour and his goal was the optimal fulfilment of the SNB’s mandate.”
IT whistleblower says lawyer took advantage of him
Philipp Hildebrand, former chairman of the Swiss central bank
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Swiss central bank chairman Philipp Hildebrand, age 48, has just resigned, effective immediately, but the scandal over the theft of private bank data and the financial transactions of Hildebrand’s wife is not likely to die down quickly.
He had worked for the bank since 2003 and was named the youngest ever chairman in January 2010.
Hildebrand said at a press conference last Thursday, 5 January, that he would remain in office as long as he had the support of the Swiss Federal Council, the cabinet. He called for reform in the wake of the scandal, including greater transparency on the part of central bank governors about their own financial transactions. Full text of HIldebrand press conference presentation (pdf)
He denied wrongdoing, saying that the CHF60,000 profit on currency transactions from August to October 2011 was his wife’s responsibility; a Bank Council investigation as well as one done by PricewaterhouseCooper’s support his claim. Hildebrand’s wife is a former currency trader who now owns a Zurich art gallery and the transactions were reportedly on behalf of her business.
But observers including a number of politicians have said in the past week that even if the central banker respected the letter of the law, and even if the law needs to be changed, he acted irresponsibly. Bloomberg/Business Week quotes Peter Kunz, head of business law at the University of Bern, as saying it’s “absolutely incomprehensible” that the relatives aren’t included in the regulations. “‘From a legal point of view, Ms Hildebrand’s dollar trade isn’t problematic,’ he said. “From the point of view of morality, experienced economic experts like the Hildebrands should know that a spouse’s trades are not without problems.’”
Kashya Hildebrand’s purchase of $500,000 in August, and sale of them in October, came during a period when the Swiss franc continued to climb against the dollar and the euro. Her husband had responsibility for Swiss monetary policy and capped the over-valued franc.
The banker is scheduled to issue a statement and copies of documents at 15:15 Monday, shortly after announcing his resignation. He was earlier scheduled to appear before parliament Monday afternoon to answer questions and share documents. Parliament still has a press conference scheduled for 18:00.
The unfolding story over the weekend centred, not around Hildebrand, but the man who stole the data, who contacted three Swiss media to say he has been abused.
UDC, lawyer and IT employer tell different tales
The 39-year-old IT worker says he turned to a lawyer with the information about Hildebrand’s accounts, not because he wanted to be a whistleblower or to have the information widely published, but because he wanted to understand the significance of the information he had viewed.
The man, who lost his job at Bank Sarasin after turning himself into police, copied data from the private accounts of Hildebrand and shared it with an old childhood friend, now a lawyer and cantonal politician in Thurgau, Hermann Lei. The man who is being investigated for taking the information has been hospitalized and is under surveillance in a psychiatric unit for fear he will try to commit suicide.
But the details of what happened differ depending on the source: the IT worker and Lei, through his lawyer, both say they met with Christoph Blocher, former head of the rightwing UDC People’s Party, who has had an abrasive relationship with Hildebrand. Blocher has remained silent on the affair, but the UDC denies such a meeting ever took place.
The IT employee says he did not give Lei permission to turn the material over to Weltwoche, a Swiss political weekly magazine that published details a week ago, information that Lei’s lawyer denies.
SNB rules tightened Saturday, but parliament wanted more answers
The Bank Council, which oversees the Swiss National Bank, announced after an extraordinary meeting Saturday that it was tightening rules to include family members of the governing board and to reduce to CHF20,000, effective immediately, the amount of foreign currency board members can trade without advance clearing.
See also: GenevaLunch background stories on Hildebrand and the SNB
Bank Council says “taking measures is in order”: tighter rules immediately for board members and greater future transparency
Swiss National Bank vice-chairman Thomas Jordan, chairman Philipp Hildebrand and member of the Enlarged Board, Jean-Pierre Danthine
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The supervisory body for the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced after a special meeting Saturday 7 January that it is tightening measures governing board members’ personal financial transactions, effective immediately, hiring an outside body to carry out a review with an eye to longer term measures. The Bank Council has also “decided that all bank transactions effected by members of the Enlarged Governing Board between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2011 will be reviewed by external auditors (preferably KPMG or Ernst & Young).”
The extraordinary measures follow several days of headlines where SNB Chairman Philipp Hildebrand’s family’s foreign exchange transactions in late 2011 came under close scrutiny from Swiss but also foreign media and political parties, culminating in a press conference Thursday with Hildebrand recapping events and taking questions from dozens of journalists.
At issue: Hildebrand’s wife, an experienced foreign exchange trader who now runs a Zurich art gallery, bought and sold dollars and made a sizeable profit in October 2011, close to the time when her husband was capping the Swiss franc/euro rate, and questions were raised about whether Hildebrand personally benefited from inside information. The Bank Council’s internal review as well as an independent one done by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) showed no wrongdoing.
Swiss media gave his performance and explanations at the press conference mixed reviews, with French language media more generous than some in German-speaking areas. The right-wing UDC People’s Party continues to call for his resignation, but their own role in the scandal remains unclear. Hildebrand’s personal banking data was illegally shared by a Sarasin Bank IT employee with a lawyer who turned it over to Christoph Blocher, former member of the government and UDC party leader. Blocher has remained silent on the affair.
The full text of the press release Saturday from the Bank Council:
“At its meeting of 7 January 2012, the Bank Council of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) addressed issues concerning corporate governance and own-account transactions involving financial instruments. It became evident that, given the events of the past few days and developments in financial markets, as well as with a view to improving transparency, taking measures is in order.
“The Bank Council has therefore adopted the following resolutions:
With the support of external specialists, a comprehensive revision of the regulations and directives on own-account transactions involving financial instruments by members of the Enlarged Governing Board will be undertaken. The corresponding draft regulations and the revised directives for SNB employees are to be submitted to the Bank Council as soon as possible.“Furthermore, the Bank Council has decided that all bank transactions effected by members of the Enlarged Governing Board between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2011 will be reviewed by external auditors (preferably KPMG or Ernst & Young).
“Until such time as the regulations and directives have been revised, members of the Enlarged Governing Board as well as staff members with access to privileged information must first get approval from the SNB’s Chief Compliance Officer for foreign exchange transactions which exceed CHF 20,000. The Audit Committee of the Bank Council will be informed periodically of such instances.”
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Philipp Hildebrand, chairman of the Swiss National Bank, met with the press at 16:00, following heavy media coverage and questions raised over the profits made from currency deals by Hildebrand or his wife in late 2011.
Hildebrand, who appeared tired but in form, first provided a lengthy summary of the incidents that led up to accusations that he may have acted illegally by allowing his family to make a profit on currency transactions. He then fielded questions in fluent German and French. He said that if he knew back in August what he knows today he would have acted differently, canceling his wife’s currency transactions and seeking the advice of the central bank’s governing board.
He was initially unaware of his wife’s purchase of several thousand dollars because “she has a strong personality” and she is personally interested in finance, he said. She owns a group of art galleries and she worked as a hedge fund trader for 15 years before turning to the art world. Plus, he added to chuckles, she reads the Financial Times every day.
He noted that he has come forward to talk about the business only now because it is only in the past two days that he has had the complete picture of what went on: the IT employee at Bank Sarasin could make a screen shot of transactions done by cell phone, but bank employees cannot make a printout, and the screen shot information was incomplete. What he saw apparently led him to believe that Hildebrand was taking advantage of his position to make currency deals. Hildebrand expressed some sympathy for the employee, but added that the man had made the mistake of turning to the wrong person with the information he held.
The Bank Council’s internal committee that reviewed the transactions and the independent investigation team from PricewaterhouseCooper’s had access to complete bank files for the Hildebrand family for the year 2011 and they found no evidence the chairman had broken the law.
Hildebrand said he knew who had received the information from the IT man, as well as who gave it to Weltwoche news magazine, but he preferred not to give names. He was on stage with the president of the Bank Council, which oversees the SNB, Hansueli Raggenbass, who didn’t hesitate to provide the name: lawyer Hermann Lei from Thurgau, who then gave the information to UDC People’s Party strategist and former leader Christophe Blocher.
The chairman of the bank says he regrets today that he did not take action in August, and he believes more stringest regulations are needed, and more transparency. For a start he would like to see all transactions over CHF20,000 by board members and their families approved in advance.
(Ed. note: GenevaLunch covered the press conference as it unfolded, on Facebook and Twitter.)
TSR reports that a Zurich judge officially opened an investigation into the matter of the IT employee who admitted to police he turned over to a lawyer private banking data on the Hildebrand family. The judge is not, however, investigating possible wrongdoing by Hildebrand.
NZZ noted before the press conference that the case leaves many questions open, in addition to whether or not the central banker has done wrong, notably, who is trying to undermine the Swiss central bank and why.
