By 2018, over 100 OECD member countries, including Switzerland, had signed Automatic Exchange of Information (“AEOI”) treaties which essentially requires that the account information of the bank’s client be forwarded to the Swiss Federal Tax Administration, which in turn, forwards it to the foreign tax authorities in your home country. Since 1998, the Swiss Money Laundering Act, also requires Swiss banks to report assets that may have been derived from crime to the Money Laundering Reporting Office in Bern. So, for the purpose of hiding your money from your country’s tax authorities or the proceeds of crime, there is no more secrecy.

But for clients looking to protect their assets from lawsuits and creditors, Swiss banking laws still maintain a high degree of secrecy. Under the Banking Act, which was introduced in 1934, any bank employee or anyone acting on behalf of a bank can face imprisonment of up to 5 years imprisonment or a hefty fine if they share or disclose any client account data with third parties. In bankruptcy or foreclosure proceedings, the bank must give customer data if the creditor knows the exact account number, the name of the bank, and the address of the bank. This makes it very difficult for creditors to find your assets in a Swiss bank account. It is even more difficult for creditors to seize your assets,if you open the bank account in the name of a company in which you have signing authority or in the name of an Offshore Asset Protection Trust.

According to the Financial Secrecy Index 2022, Switzerland is ranked number 2 in the world followed by Singapore in number 3. Surprisingly, the United States was ranked as No 1. The Financial Secrecy Index is a ranking or countries that are most complicit in helping people hide their finances.

Click here to view the Financial Secrecy Index

So do Swiss Banks still provide secrecy. For trying to avoid tax reporting, the answer is no. But for asset protection, it is one of the best places in the world to have a bank account.

Click here if you are interested in opening a Swiss bank account