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From the magazine SZW-RSDA 6/2018 | S. 667-683 The following page is 667

Automatischer Informationsaustausch: das Ende des steuerlichen Bankgeheimnisses?

«An diesem Bankgeheimnis werdet ihr euch die Zähne ausbeissen! Es steht nämlich nicht zur Disposition.» 1

«The era of banking secrecy is over.» 2

«Despite from what you have read in the media, Swiss banking secrecy is far from dead.» 3

Fundamental changes occurred in Swiss international tax law since 2009. These changes directly effected and fundamentally limited the scope of traditional Swiss banking secrecy with regard to foreign clients and foreign tax authorities. This paper analyses if, from a legal and practical perspective, anything remains of traditional Swiss «tax banking secrecy». The conclusion is that there are still notable legal and practical restrictions regarding access of foreign tax authorities to Swiss bank accounts. However, these restrictions have been dramatically reduced in particular but not exclusively by Switzerland’s adoption of the automatic exchange of information under the US-FATCA and the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard. In contrast, the legal…

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