The end of the Bank secrecy

For many years, there has been a widespread belief in European bank secrecy. A client of a bank was assured that his bank would not routinely pass his banking records on request to an outsider, and in particular, not to the United States taxing authority.

With its worldwide tax regime, the United States has opposed such bank secrecy. It has pressed for international treaties and law enforcement agreements to compel foreign banks to turn client records over to U.S. Under the banner of anti-drug and money-laundering enforcement efforts, and not anti-terrorism, these agreements have increased in number and scope. Even the time-honored exception to compelled disclosure for “fiscal” crimes has been eroded through a definitional narrowing of the term.

Nonetheless, it was still a matter of dogma that a reputable “client-oriented” European bank would not turn over client banking records simply on request by the United States Internal Revenue Service. That government agency could only obtain such records through the formal international agreement structure, and only in very specific, limited situations.

In an effort to bypass this time-consuming, cumbersome, and limited method of obtaining records, the US and other countries are pressing Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria to drop bank secrecy rules at a Group of 20 leaders meeting of the world's major economic powers in London on Thursday.

Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, said U.S. authorities had to end schemes set up in U.S. states including Wyoming, Nevada, Delaware and Florida if they wanted to tackle the global problem seriously.

"We know that right across the planet there are those who do not cooperate," said Juncker, who also leads regular economic talks between euro-zone nations.
He said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who will host the G-20 talks, "should ask Mr. Obama to put an end to the tax havens on his territory."

Juncker said it was unfair EU leaders and Obama had failed to address American havens earlier. The U.S. states have become a magnet for foreign capital thanks to their flexible incorporation laws and minimal reporting requirements.

"By April 3. we will know whether all of this is being said just for purposes of the public gallery or whether they really want to find a proper solution for a serious problem that exists in the United States as well," Juncker said.

The G-20 leaders are expected to renew commitments to fight tax havens during their talks to reap tax money to plug their swelling deficits.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said fighting tax havens worldwide was "one of the important concrete measures" the G-20 summit had to take.

"Giving credibility to the world financial system, we need to recover that credibility, that means introducing an ethical element to the system," he said.
Singapore promised some days ago to relax its strict bank secrecy laws in a sign of the escalating international pressure on tax evasion. In fact, Singapore will not make it a less attractive private banking and financial centre, say private bankers and tax experts. Except for tax evaders.

Hong Kong decided to bring its tax transparency up to international standards, and both moves advance the campaign against tax havens. The OECD praised recent concessions on tax evasion also by Andorra, the Isle of Man, Liechtenstein and the Cayman Islands.

Is this the end of the bank secrecy?.

This Blog/Web Site ("Blog") does not to provide specific legal advice, it is for educational purposes only. This Blog is made available by the international adviser, lawyer or law firm for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice.

The Blog does not constitute legal advice and is not a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed attorney in your state. Any comment posted on the Blog can be read by any Blog visitor; do not post confidential or sensitive information. Any links from another site to the Blog are beyond the control of us.

By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and the Blog.

The Blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional adviser or lawyer in your country.

Our firm and do not convey their approval, support or any relationship to any site or organization. The use of this Blog does not implicitly or explicitly convey any warranties or representations as to the accuracy of the information contained herein.

This Blog has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. The following discloses the information gathering and dissemination practices for this Blog.

This Blog takes your privacy very seriously. Our customers told us they want to see clear, easy-to-read information about our privacy commitments and policies. We have made our privacy policies easier to find and easier to read. And we're listening. We welcome your questions and feedback on our privacy policies, and invite you to contact us with your thoughts.

Customer Privacy Controls and Choices:
• You can review and correct your Personal Information collected by us.
• You can limit certain types of solicitation communications from AT&T, including marketing contacts made via telephone, e-mail and text messaging.
• We will provide you with notice of changes to this policy.

Our privacy commitments are fundamental to the way we do business every day. These apply to everyone who has a relationship with this Blog and visitors.
• We will protect your privacy and keep your personal information safe. We use powerful encryption and other security safeguards to protect customer data, when available.
• We will not sell your personal information to anyone, for any purpose. Period.
• We will fully disclose our privacy policies in plain language, and make our policies easily accessible to you.
• We will notify you of any revisions to our privacy policy, in advance. No surprises.
• You have choices about how this Blog uses your information for marketing purposes. Customers are in control.


This Privacy Policy identifies and describes the way This Blog uses and protects the information we collect about visitors. All use of this Blog is subject to this Privacy Policy.

Use of Location Information
• When your wireless device is on, it sends periodic signals to the nearest cell site. We use that information to provide your wireless services;
• You can use your wireless device to obtain a wide array of services based on the approximate location of the device, referred to as Location Based Services, or LBS. The information you receive in connection with your use of LBS may include advertisements related to your request and your location;

Online Activity Tracking and Advertising
• We collect information about your activity on this Blog for a number of purposes using technologies such as cookies, Web beacons, widgets and server log files.
• We and our advertising partners use that information, as well as other information they have or we may have, to help tailor the ads you see on our sites and to help make decisions about ads you see on other sites.

The Information We Collect, How We Collect It, And How We Use It

We collect different types of personal and other information based on your use of our products and services and our business relationship with you. Some examples include:
• Contact Information that allows us to communicate with you -- including your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
• Equipment, Performance, Site Usage, Viewing and other Technical Information about your use of our network, services, products or Web sites.

We collect information in 2 primary ways:
• You give it to us when you register to provide comments;
• We collect it automatically when you visit our Blog.

We use the information we collect in a variety of ways, including to:
• Provide you with the best visitor experience possible;
• Deliver customized content that may be of interest to you;
• Address network integrity and security issues;
• Investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, violations of our Terms of Service or Acceptable Use Policies; and
• For local directory and directory assistance purposes.

Aggregate or Anonymous Information:

We may share aggregate or anonymous information in various formats with trusted entities’ only for purposes such as:
• Our knowledge, and offer of information that may be of interest to you;
• Universities, laboratories and other entities that conduct scientific research; and
• Media research companies for general information only.