Swiss vow to reject undeclared assets

The Swiss government vowed yesterday to reject undeclared assets from foreigners, in a move to counter tax evasion and clean up the reputation of Switzerland's banking sector.
"Switzerland has a strong financial centre and it is one that is important for its economy," the finance ministry said in a statement in Bern.
"To preserve its integrity, the Federal Council [cabinet] is gearing its financial market strategy to that of managing declared assets," it added.
The cabinet asked the ministry to find ways of preventing foreigners from hiding undeclared funds in the country's banks.
"The Federal Council is against attracting undeclared funds from overseas," stressed the ministry.
"In order to prevent new, undeclared funds from coming to Switzerland, the Federal Department of Finance will draw up various solutions," it added.
The finance ministry added that it will also look at regularising undeclared assets which are already held in Switzerland.
Swiss banks have been hit by a series of disputes with several countries, including the United States, Germany and France, over allegations that their nationals have hidden funds in Swiss bank accounts to evade taxes.
UBS, the country's biggest bank, was embroiled in a lawsuit with the US tax authorities, and given a massive fine over its role in helping US citizens evade taxes.
The bank also agreed to hand over secret details on about 4,450 clients and US taxpayers in order to stave off a further lawsuit from the US authorities.