Swiss Private Bankers Threaten Referendum Over Savings Tax Talks
It emerged last week that the Swiss Private Bankers Association has threatened
to call for a referendum if the Swiss negotiating team makes any more concessions
to the European Union over savings tax at tomorrow's meeting. Speaking to the Swissinfo news service on Friday, Ivan Pictet, partner at the
Geneva-based Pictet Bank warned that a nationwide poll could derail crucial
negotiations over the second set of bilateral treaties currently under discussion
between the EU and Switzerland. 'The government knows that if it goes beyond what is acceptable for the financial
sector or threatens it, there will be a referendum,' he observed. 'Obviously
it also knows that 72% of the population voted against entering the EU as it
is now.' Although the Swiss government has so far stuck to its guns, offering to impose
a 35% withholding tax in lieu of automatic information exchange on non-resident
savings interest, bankers in Switzerland fear that it may offer more concessions
to the European bloc in order to secure agreements on other aspects of the bilateral
treaties. 'I'm not quite sure that the government has much flexibility in a direct democracy
like Switzerland to go beyond what the population really wants,' Mr Pictet warned. .
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