What is special about Swiss bank secrecy?
Banks in most countries are prohibited from divulging information about their clients and the provisions of the Swiss law follow the same principle. Swiss law is especially strict on any breach of confidentiality, whether in banking or in other commerce. The Banking Act adds a special section which makes it a criminal offense (with the possibility of an individual going to jail) for the bank, its employee or agent to divulge improperly any confidential information. These portions of the banking law have been interpreted, both in practice and by the courts, to make it a serious offense to divulge any information about a bank customer to a third party (including official requests from foreign governments), except in some very special and clearly defined situations. Swiss bank secrecy is reinforced by a constant awareness of the seriousness of the bank’s obligation to maintain confidentiality, starting with bank employees having to sign the secrecy portion of the Banking Act as a conditio
