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The Origins of the Swiss Banking Secrecy Law and Its Repercussions for Swiss Federal Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2011

Sébastien Guex
Sébastien Guex
Affiliation:
SÉBASTIEN GUEX is an assistant professor of contemporary history atthe University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Abstract

For all its notoriety and controversial character, the history of Swiss banking secrecy remains largely unexplored. This article traces the crucial phases of its development. It reveals that the maintenance and reinforcement of banking secrecy represented a major objective of Swiss authorities throughout the twentieth century, and exerted a substantial influence on Swiss domestic and foreign policy. It demonstrates that, contrary to popular opinion, the institution of Swiss banking secrecy did not arise from a desire to protect the funds deposited in Switzerland by Jewish victims of Nazi persecution but rather had substantially different origins. Moreover, this article shows that Swiss banking secrecy gave rise to tensions between Switzerland and the Great Powers, especially during and after World War II, when it poisoned relations between Switzerland and the United States.

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Articles
Information
Business History Review , Volume 74 , Issue 2 , Summer 2000 , pp. 237 - 266
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 2000

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References

1 The principal works in this category are the following: Lavanchy, Paul, Das Bankgeheimnis in der schweizerischen Gesetzgebung mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Steuerrechts (Zürich, 1935)Google Scholar; Capitaine, Georges, Le secret professionnel du banquier en droit suisse et en droit comparé (Genève, 1936)Google Scholar; Jann, Adolf, Der Umfang und die Grenzen des Bankgeheimnis ses nach schweizerischem Recht (Altdorf, 1938)Google Scholar; Delachaux, François, Le secret professionnel du banquier en droit suisse (Neuchâtel, 1939)Google Scholar; Zondervan, Richard, Le secret bancaire suisse et sa légende. Une appréciation critique (Bruxelles, 1973)Google Scholar; Le secret bancaire dans la C.E.E. et en Suisse (Paris, 1974); Farhat, Raymond, Le secret bancaire. Etude de droit comparé (France, Suisse, Liban) (Paris, 1980)Google Scholar; Aubert, Maurice et al., Le secret bancaire suisse. Droit privé, pénal, administratif, fiscal, procédure, entraide et conventions internationales (Bern, 1995)Google Scholar; Pieper, Stephan M., Rechts- und Amtshilfe in Steuerangelegenheiten durch die Schweiz insbesondere im Hinblick auf das schweizerische Bankgeheimnis (Frankfurt, 1995).Google Scholar

2 Cf., for example, Fehrenbach, Theodore Reed, The Swiss Banks (New York, 1966)Google Scholar; Waller, Leslie, The Swiss Bank Connection (New York, 1972)Google Scholar; Clarke, Thurston and Tigue, John J. Jr, Dirty Money: Swiss Banks, the Mafia, Money Laundering, and White Collar Crime (London, 1975)Google Scholar; Büchenbacher, Christoph, Tatsachen über das schweizerische Bankgeheimnis (Zürich, 1977)Google Scholar; Faith, Nicholas, Safety in Numbers: The Mysterious World of Swiss Banking (London, 1982)Google Scholar; Saunier, Jean, Le pouvoir des banques suisses (Paris, 1982)Google Scholar; Bower, Tom, Blood Money: The Swiss, the Nazis and the Looted Billions (London, 1997)Google Scholar; LeBor, Adam, Hitler's Secret Bankers: Hole Switzerland Profited from Nazi Genocide (London, 1997)Google Scholar.

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4 The Economist, 17 Feb. 1996, 78.

5 A. LeBor, Hitler's Secret Bankers, 3.

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12 Ibid.

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16 Letter from the managing director of Crédit Suisse to the head of the Federal Department of Finance, 9 Feb. 1935, FAB, E 6520(A)/1/1.

17 Cf. H. Bänziger, Die Entwicklung, 38–49; and Guex, Sébastien, La politique monétaire et financière de la Confédération suisse 1900–1920 (Lausanne, 1993), 217–219.Google Scholar

18 Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 28 Aug. 1931.

19 Cf. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 3 and 4 Sept. 1931.

20 Vorschläge zur Revision des Obligationenrechts hinsichtlich der Banken-Kontrolle, by Adolf Jöhr, 24 Jan. 1932, FAB E 6520(A)/1/2.

21 Draft B. Bundesgesetz über die schweizerische Bank- und Börsen-Zentrale, by Fritz Zimmermann-Locher, 3 Feb. 1932, FAB, E 6520(A)/1/2.

22 Verband Schweiz, Kantonalbanken, Auszug aus den Vorträgen des Herrn Jakob Kaderli, 27 Oct. 1932, FAB E 6520(A)/1/2.

23 Speech reported in Bulletin de la Société de Banque Suisse, no 6, late Oct. 1931, 195.

24 Bulletin sténographique officiel de l'Assemblée fédérale—Conseil national, Bem, 25 Sept, 1931, 663.

25 Speech reported by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 18 Sept. 1931.

26 Cf. especially the Bulletin sténographique officiel de l'Assemblée fédérale—Conseil national, Bern, 8 June 1932, 252.

27 On this last aspect, cf. Ibid., 27 Sept. 1932, 705.

28 Cf. esp. Notverordnung gegen die Kapital- und Steuerflucht, 18 July 1931, Reichsgesetzblatt 1931, v. 1, 373ff.

29 Cf. Balzli, Beat, Les administrateurs du Reich. La Suisse et la disparition des biens des victimes du nazisme (Genève, 1997), 109–110Google Scholar; and H. Bänziger, Die Entwicklung, 115–116.

30 Cf. N. Faith, Safety in Numbers, 64–72, 81.

31 Kölnische Zeitung, 22 Nov. 1932; cf, also the Viennese Neue Freie Presse, 23 Nov. 1932; and the Czech newspaper Bohemia, 14 Dec. 1932.

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33 Journal officiel, 11 Nov. 1932, 2998–2999, and Le Matin, 24 Nov. 1932.

34 Journal officiel, 11 Nov. 1932. 3004.

35 Ibid., 3002.

36 Cf. letter from the Basler Handelsbank to the Federal Political Department, 4 Jan. 1933, and its annexes, as well as the Memorandum of the Basler Handelsbank for the Federal Political Department, 27 Oct. 1936, FAB E 2001(D)/1/64.

37 Cf. letter from the Police Division of the Federal Department of Justice and Police to the Federal Political Department, 14 Dec. 1932, FAB E 2001(D)/1/64.

38 Letter from the Swiss ambassador in France to the president of the Confederation, 22 Dec. 1932, FAB E 2001 /D/1/64.

39 Letter from the Federal Politicai Department to the Swiss Embassy in Germany, 17 Nov. 1932; cf. also letter from the Federal Political Department to the Swiss Legation in France, 12 Nov. 1932, FAB E 2001 (D)/1/64.

40 Journal de Genève, 26 Nov. 1932.

41 Finanz-Revue, 23 Nov. 1932; see also 16 Nov. 1932.

42 Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 23 Dec. 1932; see also 4 and 21 Dec. 1932 and 10 Jan. 1933.

43 Finanz-Revue, 23 Nov. 1932.

44 Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 10 Jan. 1933.

45 Cf. letter from the Swiss ambassador in France to the Federal Political Department, 17 Nov. 1932, FAB E 2001 (D)/1/64.

46 Reported in Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 9 April 1932; see also 8 March 1932.

47 Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 21 Dec. 1932.

48 Cf. Huber, Otto, Die Geheimhaltungspflicht des Beauftragten unter spezieller Berücksichtigung des Bankgeheimnisses (Bem, 1936), 115.Google Scholar

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52 Cf. Sigg, Oswald, Die eidgenössischen Volksinitiativen 1892–1939 (Einsiedeln, 1978), 164–173.Google Scholar

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54 Cf., for example, Journal de Genève, 13 Oct. and 5 Dec. 1933.

55 H. Bänziger, Die Entwicklung, 117.

56 Cf. Bulletin sténographique officiel de l'Assemblée fédérale—Conseil national, Bern, 5 July 1932, 405.

57 Report of the Swiss Bankers' Association to the Federal Administration of Finance, 27 March 1946, FAB E 6100(A)/24/2.

58 On this problem, cf. esp. Perrenoud, Marc, “Banques et diplomatie suisses à la fin de la deuxième guerre mondiale,” Etudes et sources, nos. 13–14, 1987–1988, 3–128Google Scholar; and Jost, Hans Ulrich, “Switzerland's Atlantic Perspective,” in Milivojevic, M. and Maurer, P., eds., Swiss Neutrality and Security. Armed Forces, National Defence and Foreign Policy (New York, 1990), 110–121.Google Scholar

59 On all these questions and those that follow, cf. Durrer, Marco, Die schweizerisch-amerikanischen Finanzbeziehungen im Zweiten Weltkrieg (Bern, 1984)Google Scholar; Schiemann, Catherine, Neutralität in Krieg und Frieden. Die Aussenpolitik der Vereinigten Staaten gegenüber der Schweiz 1941–1949. Eine diplomatiegeschichtliche Untersuchung (Zürich, 1991), 123–262Google Scholar; Castelmur, Linus von, Schweizerisch-alliierte Finanzbeziehungen im Übergang vom Zweiten Weltkrieg zum kalten Krieg (Zürich, 1992).Google Scholar

60 Memorandum from Willi Reichenau of the Federal Political Department, 7 June 1943, FAB E 2001 (E)/2/563.

61 Letter from the Swiss National Bank to the Federal Political Department, 16 June 1943, FAB E 2001 (E)/2/563.

62 Résumé des délibérations de l'Assemblée fédérale, Bem, no. 4, 1943, 13.

63 Quoted in Perrenoud, Sébastien Guex/Marc, “Banquiers suisses et autorités fédérales face aux menaces américaines en 1945,” Traverse. Revue d'Histoire, no. 3, 1995, 136.Google Scholar

64 Quoted in Marguerat, P./Roulet, L.-E., eds., Documents diplomatiques suisses, v. 15 (Bem, 1992), 986.Google Scholar

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66 Quoted in L. von Castelmur, Schweizerisch-alliierte, 72.

67 Quoted in Fleury, A., ed., Documents diplomatiques suisses, v. 16 (Zurich, 1997), 151.Google Scholar

68 Quoted in J. Schaufelbühl, “Das Bankgeheimnis,” 213–214.

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70 Cf. Spalmi, Walter, Der Ausbruch der Schweiz aus der Isohtion nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg (Frauenfeld, 1977), 131–133Google Scholar; Favez, Jean-Claude, “Le Don suisse et la politique étrangère. Quelques réflexions,” in Roth-Lochner, B., Neuenschwander, M., and Walter, F., eds., Des archives à la mémoire (Genève, 1995), 327–339Google Scholar; Jost, Hans Ulrich, Le salaire des neutres. Suisse 1938–1948 (Paris, 1999), 252–263.Google Scholar

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74 Although this was the main stake at issue, there were, in fact, others. For example, the possibility of unfreezing assets administered by Swiss establishments in the United States without having to deliver the names of their real owners to the Allies—with the exception of German owners—allowed these assets to avoid American taxation. Cf. letter from Joseph Straessle, financial councilor of the Swiss Legation in Washington to the Foreign Affairs Division of the Federal Political Department, 12 Dec. 1944, FAB E 7160–02/1968/27/9.

75 Cf. the final report of the Swiss Compensation Office on the certification of Swiss assets in the United States, April 1949, FAB E 7160–01/1968/223/324; see also the report entitled “Accusations in the Matter of the Certification of ‘Swiss Assets’ Frozen in the USA,” signed by Paul Carry, professor of law at the University of Geneva and member of the Committee of the Swiss National Bank, 8 Feb. 1952, FAB E 2800/1967/61/91.

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75 Cf. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 28 March 2000; Finanzplatz Schweiz Informationen, Feb. 2000.

79 Cf. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 7 April 2000.

80 Cf. Message du Conseil fédéral à l'Assemblée fédérale concernant la révision de la loi sur les banques, 13 March 1970, Feuille fédérale 1970, v. 1 (Bern), 1175.