"It is a dangerous moment for Switzerland but, unlike Luxembourg, we are not a member of the EU, we comply with OECD standards. There is no reason to change our strategy now"
- Ueli Mauer, Swiss President
Switzerland is expected to reject the EU scheme for mandatory data exchange on bank accounts, said Ueli Maurer, the country's President. Austria and Switzerland came under more pressure to abandon bank secrecy as Luxembourg agreed to reveal information on EU depositors starting from 2015. Preventing tax evasion was one of the main topics discussed by European finance ministers in Dublin. EU taxation commissioner Algirdas Semeta said tax evasion is costing the EU economy 1 trillion euros per year, which is twice the amount of the bailout packages for Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus.
"It is a dangerous moment for Switzerland but, unlike Luxembourg, we are not a member of the EU, we comply with OECD standards. There is no reason to change our strategy now," said Ueli Maurer.
Also Monday, data showed that sight deposits of domestic banks in Switzerland surged to 281 734 million francs last week, up from 281 665 million a week earlier. Despite the fact, the Swiss Franc trades versus the shared currency around a 1.215 level, renewed risks for Europe's economy are adding to concerns that it is to early allow the SNB to change its currency cap.
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