According to Mr Roth for many, the distinctions between money laundering, tax fraud, and tax evasion are woefully vague. 'We want to maintain banking privacy,' he said, '[but] it does not protect criminals, nor is the issue of the slightest relevence in the pursuit of terrorists.'

Although the offshore jurisdiction has come under fire of recent months, a great deal of assistance has been provided by the Swiss banking sector in the hunt for terrorist assets, and Mr Roth believes that the country has 'the strictest laws on the planet against money laundering,' with wholly anonymous numbered accounts now banned under Switzerland's 'Know Your Customer' regulations, and assistance readily provided by Swiss banks for specific domestic and international investigations.

The fact that the Swiss authorities will not tolerate 'fishing trips' by foreign governments has caused many misunderstandings, particularly with countries such as France and Germany, who would like the Swiss banking sector to furnish them with lists of their citizens who save or invest offshore.

However, Mr Roth argues, Switzerland has complied with all requests for information which it considers legitimate and legal. 'There must be plausible suspicions,' he revealed. 'But if we receive an executive order from the US government, we don't ask too many questions- we regard this as sufficient grounds for checking our account data.'

According to Mr Roth, the distinction between tax fraud and tax evasion is another controversial sticking point. Tax evasion, although illegal in Switzerland, is an administrative, as opposed to a criminal offense, for which banking secrecy rules cannot be lifted. Tax fraud, where documents are forged, or other illegal actions taken in the course of tax evasion activities, does warrant the removal of banking privacy provisions.

'We have no sympathy for tax evasion- every country tries to fight it,' explained Jacques de Watteville, the head of the Swiss foreign ministry's financial and economic affairs department. 'But there is a balance to strike between tackling tax evasion and protecting the private sphere.' And it would seem that public opinion is with him on this issue- polls show that 80% of Swiss voters support the retention of banking secrecy laws.