Boot on the other foot

Three years ago Switzerland came under tremendous pressure from the rest of the world to clean up its act following the revelation that UBS had been helping rich Americans and others to evade their taxes.

Now, with details of global offshore secrets emerging in the media, it might be Switzerland’s turn to fire a few volleys back at the international community, starting with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

There has been a chorus of comment to this effect from politicians and finance officials.

“We should put pressure on the OECD to make Britain and the US clean up their own affairs,” Radical party parliamentarian Ruedi Noser told the SonntagsZeitung.

Conservative Democrat vice-president Lorenz Hess said that Swiss efforts to combat tax fraud should be matched by an international drive against tax havens.

And Peter Hegglin, the number two figure in the Conference of Cantonal Finance Directors, said the Switzerland should work with international organisations like the OECD and the United Nations to establish standards to “ensure that trust assets are correctly taxed.”

Matthew Allen, swissinfo.ch