by Susan Emmenegger

When in 1848 the Swiss cantons agreed to form a federal state modeled after the U.S. Constitution of 1787, they called Switzerland the New America. More recently, the roles have been reversed: America is called the New Switzerland. The claim is not that America is making better chocolate than the Swiss. It is that America has become the world’s leading bank secrecy jurisdiction. Yet America’s “Swissness” is about to be scaled down. Following the Panama Papers scandal, the Treasury has activated long-standing proposals to improve U.S. financial transparency.  Among other things, new rules on Customer Due Diligence were published on May 11, 2016. In Europe, the general view is that the changes ­­– even if approved by Congress – are not sufficient. Nevertheless, they are an important step forward. Continue reading →