BERN: Switzerland’s banks will benefit from the global crackdown on tax avoidance, the president of the country’s association of foreign banks and head of HSBC’s (HSBA.L) Swiss private banking arm said on Tuesday.
The Alpine nation famed for its banking secrecy is bowing to international pressure by committing to a cross-border data-sharing programme, but HSBC’s Franco Morra, speaking as president of the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland, said the country’s professional infrastructure will ensure it remains competitive in the fight for foreign cash.
“Not only do you (in Switzerland) have the competencies and the expertise, but also dealing with the past and actually creating a level playing field on tax transparency, I think we will gain a lot in terms of competitiveness as a financial centre,” he said in a panel discussion on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Automatic Exchange of Information programme in Zurich.
