"I expect there won't be a vote"
- Pirmin Schwander, president of the Action for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland
Switzerland will not hold a referendum in November on deals with Germany, the U.K. and Austria to tax secret bank accounts as the opponents of the plan failed to submit enough signatures. Swiss government is planning to impose an up to 41 per cent tax on capital in offshore bank accounts held by citizens of Germany, Austria and Britain, and impose a tax on future interest income, while allowing the holders of the accounts to remain anonymous.
"I expect there won't be a vote," said Pirmin Schwander, president of the Action for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland (AUNS), a group close to the powerful right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP).
"This German-Swiss tax agreement contains so many fundamental flaws that I can't recommend to my party (...) to vote in favor of it," said Peer Steinbrück, the former Germany finance minister.
The Swiss blue-chip index SMI, a measure of the largest and most actively traded companies gained 0.04 per cent to 6,613.54. The broader Swiss Performance Index edged higher 0.05 per cent to 6,114.80.
© Dukascopy Bank SA