Tag Archive | "swiss bank"

My Story: I opened a Swiss Bank Account

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The GDP of Switzerland is higher than most of the countries in the world and that is why it is counted in one of the most prosperous nations in the world. To open an account there you will see the sign board outside the bank saying ‘Private Banking’, which is always a satisfying to anyone who wants to open a new account, especially at the Swiss Bank.  But actually that private bank is for millionaires, who are mostly from the third world countries and it requires $100,000 as a first deposit. Opening regular account does not need such a big deposit and is relatively the easier one.

An Account Opening

An Account Opening

In Switzerland, according to the laws and regulations any adult person can open an account. However, the bank holds the right to reject any customer for providing the services. For example, the bank can refuse to provide the services to a politically-exposed person, which can harm the bank’s reputation if that person becomes the bank client. The bank can also refuse to provide services to a person whose income sources are not reliable for the bank, or that person is generating income from criminal activities.

An Account for Companies

There are two types of accounts for companies in Switzerland.

  • Companies registered and working in Switzerland.
  • Companies registered and working abroad.

For the company, registered and working in Switzerland, the bank can gather the relevant information about the company.  The information can be collected from the Swizz Commercial Register on the company’s relevant website.

For the company, registered and working outside Switzerland than they must provide the relevant information required by the bank and prove its existence.

Swiss Banks Vs American Banks

One of the significant differences between the ordinary people bank and the Swiss bank is that, the regular banks let you pay the bills by sending pink slips in the mails. However, since American’s are used to the power of plastic while paying for the groceries or food at a restaurant, they hardly ever prefer the use of the credit cards. So when both the credit card and the checkbooks aren’t available, then there is no option left. One thing people don’t understand about the Swiss Banking is the monthly cash limit in the ATM machines. It’s quite confusing that why there are limits defined for the cash withdrawal. Different people go and try to persuade the teller to increase the monthly cash limit for the cash machines, and the tellers too, unwillingly, give them an approval.

PIN Privileges

Swiss accounts, sometimes also put people into trouble by changing their bank card. People often rush to the bank by such complaint and they are asked that they will get a different type of a bank card. Furthermore, the bank sometimes withdraws the PIN privileges. Read the full story

How to Open a Swiss Bank Account?

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Swiss bank accounts are very attractive due to their specific features. An average business man can now easily open a Swiss bank account. There are many new offers introduced for this purpose. It is considered very important to know about the specific aspects of these accounts. These accounts generally provide the secrecy and protection to the savings of people. Swiss bank accounts are operated with a number rather than account holder’s name. Some hard terms and conditions are led for opening these accounts.

swiss banking

Every new account needs an in-person appearance in Switzerland. There is a huge amount of money at least $100,000 required for an initial deposit. It also needs some more $300 per year for account maintenance. So, these secret accounts considered somewhat costly for an average person.

Cheaper ways to open a Swiss Bank account

There are some easier and cheaper ways also available to open Swiss Bank accounts. These secret accounts are working under the Swiss law from 1934. No Swiss bank official has right to disclose any information about an account. However, U.S. law enforcement agencies now may interfere for criminal investigations according to newly introduced rules for Swiss Bank accounts.

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Swiss bank accounts

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Switzerland has been the largest and safest offshore place for tax payers all across the globe.  Even though the Swiss banks supremacy for this identification has been shifted to new offshore banks, but still Swiss Bank account bestow you with the similar advantages that are supplied by other offshore banks. Now Swiss banks not only serve the very affluent people, but other small investors can also be benefited by these.

swiss bank account

In Offshore Banks, Swiss Banks are the Safest

Even in times of global turmoil and antagonism, Switzerland has managed to maintain its standing as an impartial country. Owing to this, Switzerland has developed into pinnacle of banking hubs all over the globe. It is therefore, acclaimed by every single one offshore financial expert as an ultimate place, because it protects people from social and political turmoil. Hence it means to offer more protection to your cash with stringent seclusion regulations.

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Laws related to Swiss Bank Accounts

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Opening an account in Swiss banks is accompanied with some rules, laws, and regulations. The basic rule is about the age of account opener, that if the account opener is a national of any other country, other than Switzerland, that account opener should be above 18 years old. The exemption and taxation on your amount is also done under certain rules.

Laws and Regulations of Swiss Banks

In Switzerland, nobody, even the Swiss government is allowed to reveal any information regarding accounts or account holders until an account holder is not a criminal.

swiss bank account

But in USA even a private citizen has an easy access to it, i.e. in America any one; even a normal citizen can get information of any account holder. The Swiss banker’s requirement of client confidentiality is found in Article 47 of the Federal Law on Banks and Savings Banks, which came into effect on November 8, 1934. In the books of banking laws, this article act is defined as;

“Anyone acting in his/her capacity as member of a banking body, as a bank employee, agent, liquidator or auditor, as an observer of the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC), or as a member of a body or an employee belonging to an accredited auditing institution, is not permitted to divulge information entrusted to him/her or of which he/she has been apprised because of his/her position.”

Exceptions of Swiss bank accounts

It is discussed in Swiss Bankers Association that no bank is allowed to provide the information and details of any account to any one.

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Swiss Banking Procedures

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Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) regulates all the banks in Switzerland. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority is an institution that regulates activities related to bank, securities markets and investment funds.

Major Banks

Major Swiss Banks

Four type of banks operate in Switzerland, Central bank, private banks, semi-government banks, there are 327 authorized banks in Switzerland, UBS and Credit Suisse are the largest Swiss banks and account for over 50% of all the deposits in Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank, founded by Federal Act serves as central bank. The federal government does not hold any shares; its shares are publicly traded and are held by the individual investors, and are held by private and semi-government banks.

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Swiss Bank Account Advantages

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Swiss laws are very strict regarding the relationship between a bank and its customers.  If the bank violates this relationship a punishment shall be imposed. Banks must very careful therefore and not divulge any kind of information regarding their customers, without, taking permission.

Punishment

Swiss law treats a violation by the bank very seriously. The Swiss public attorney will immediately start prosecution against the bank.

HAUPTSITZ SCHWEIZER BANK

The punishment imposed could be up to 6 months of imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Swiss Francs.  In addition you may even sue the bank separately.

Exceptions

There are certain exceptions to this strict law of privacy. Information may be divulged if criminal activities are taking place. This includes drug trafficking, organised crime or insider trading.

Privacy

The biggest advantage of having a Swiss bank account is the privacy that you can enjoy. The privacy allowed to a customer is indeed a blessing. You might not want anyone to know about your money.

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What is The Advantage of a Numbered Account?

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A numbered account is an important type of account in Swiss bank accounts. A codeword or number is used to operate this account rather than name of account holder. This was introduced to provide the privacy to the account holder’s name. The codeword or number is only known by the account holder and some of the authorized bank officials. A numbered account also provides the privacy to its holder for financial transactions. There is no information related to these accounts provided to any private or government agencies. There are special Swiss secrecy laws are usually applied to operate these accounts.

Advantages of Numbered Accounts

There are so many advantages of numbered accounts. Some of these advantages are:

1. Privacy of Account Holder

Numbered accounts now a day serve to provide the great degree of protection to its holder.These accounts help to minimize the exposure of name of account holder in the public.”’

Swiss Bank Numbered Account

2. Information of Account

There is usually no information provided to any government or private agency for these accounts.However, an exception usually remained if any proof of fraud is established against the account holder.

Distinct Features of Operating a Numbered Account

There are many distinct advantages of the numbered accounts. Those are:

1. Pseudonym or Number

This is suggested as more consistent due to the privacy of the account holders.

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Swiss Banking from US: Offshore Accounts

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Many countries impose restrictions against having offshore bank accounts. However, the United States is not one of them. It imposes no restriction against citizens having foreign bank accounts. There are numerous countries which offer such accounts. An example is the Belize offshore bank account.

IRS Regulations

Certain regulations, however, need to be considered. IRS Regulations require that U.S citizens reveal all foreign bank accounts. They have to reveal the bank accounts at the time of filing their annual income tax. However, this is only required if their offshore bank accounts have more than $10,000 in them.

Additionally, if U.S citizens invest in American securities through a Swiss bank account, they shall have to declare it to the IRS. This will also apply to green card holders or any other people subject to U.S tax. IRS Regulations do not apply to any other securities. It is just strict with American securities.

Secret Banks

There are a number of countries which provide “secret banks”. These banks offer complete secrecy. Those people, who wish to avoid tax, often have such accounts. Below some of these offshore banks will be considered.

Anguilla

It is situated in a British territory in the Eastern Caribbean. Many consider it as offshore business center. It is also known as a tax-free zone.

Belize

The Belize offshore account has been available since 1995.  These offshore bank accounts are not subject to local taxes.

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List of Swiss Banks and Type of Accounts

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There are many banks and account types in Switzerland. There are some universal banks in which there are all types of accounts and facilities are available for their clients and there are also some specialized banks, which deals only in specific field. Following are some details of different banks and account types in Switzerland.

Two largest banks in Switzerland

There are almost 400 banks in Switzerland and out of these 400 banks there are two large banks;

  • Union Bank of Switzerland, after its merger with Swiss Bank Corporation, it is also called UBS AG.
  • Credit Suisse Group

These two banks are managing the 50 percent of the account sheet of Switzerland banking business. They are handling the main economy of Switzerland.

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Swiss Bank UBS Almost Lost $31 Billion USD!

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The Japanese unit of the largest Swiss bank UBS nearly lost 30 trillion yen because of a computer errors.  it was about to spend 3 trillion yen (31 billion dollars) to purchase bonds of Capcom, a manufacturer of video games. (Bloomberg Report).

USB Bank officials then explained that they were going to place an order for the purchase of bonds in the amount of 30 million yen (310 thousand dollars), but due to an error, computer added Five zeros to the order.

UBS Tokyo

According to UBS, the deal was concluded on the OTC market and has not been recorded in the Trading System of  Tokyo Stock Exchange (BBC Report).

According to Capcom, Famous producer of game series Resident Evil and Street Fighter, the Tokyo Stock Exchange canceled the deal and they apologized from the company. Cancellation was requested by UBS, who also asked for forgiveness for the mistake. This event however did not had any major impact on the trading session.

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