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Datum: 25.02.2015
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NEWS
Swiss Banks Try to
Keep Italian Clients After
Tax Deal
Pedestrians and a tram pass UBS Group AG, left, and Credit Suisse Group AG's headquarters on
Paradeplatz in Zurich, Switzerland. UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland’s
biggest banks, reported losing about a third of Italian assets that were declared in the tax
amnesty in 2009. Photographer: Philipp Schmidli/Bloomberg
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(Bloomberg) ­­ Swiss asset managers, faced with the prospect of an exodus of Italian funds,
have won a reprieve.
An agreement allowing the two nations to share information that was signed Monday means
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Italy will remove Switzerland from a black list, enabling Italians to come clean on undeclared
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Swiss funds on better terms and keep their money where it is.
Pedestrians and a tram pass UBS Group AG, left, and Credit Suisse Group AG's headquarters on
Paradeplatz in Zurich, Switzerland. UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland’s
biggest banks, reported losing about a third of Italian assets that were declared in the tax
amnesty in 2009. Photographer: Philipp Schmidli/Bloomberg
bloomberg.com / Bloomberg News Online
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(Bloomberg) ­­ Swiss asset managers, faced with the prospect of an exodus of Italian funds,
Datum:
25.02.2015
Elena Logutenkova
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have won a reprieve.
An agreement allowing the two nations to share information that was signed Monday means
Italy will remove Switzerland from a black list, enabling Italians to come clean on undeclared
f
t
h
Swiss funds on better terms and keep their money where it is.
Italy is counting on a voluntary disclosure program to flush out undeclared assets estimated
at about 160 billion euros ($181 billion). While there are no official figures for how much of
the hidden money may be in Switzerland, more than two­thirds of funds that surfaced in
Italy’s most recent amnesty were from the Alpine nation, a sign of the potential hit to Swiss
banks.
The deal gives the asset managers, already grappling with costly investigations from the U.S.
to France, a chance to retain clients even as bank secrecy is abandoned.
“This agreement is very good for Swiss banks. We needed it desperately,” said Lars
Schlichting, a partner and attorney at KPMG Holding AG in Lugano, Switzerland. “Without it
we could have lost all Italian clients because we cannot have undeclared money anymore.”
Italians with Swiss accounts will have to pay 7 percent to 12 percent of their secret assets in
taxes and penalties if they voluntarily disclose them to the authorities, compared with as
much as 40 percent if Switzerland hadn’t reached the agreement, Schlichting estimated.
Probable Outflows
This will lead to some outflows. UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland’s
biggest banks, reported losing about a third of Italian assets that were declared in the tax
amnesty in 2009.
“Italy was the biggest remaining market for which a solution on undeclared assets had to be
found” after the U.K., France and Germany, said Andreas Venditti, a banking analyst at
Vontobel in Zurich. “Banks may be facing billions of gross outflows, but the biggest clients
will probably keep their accounts here after declaring them.”
KPMG has already advised about 300 Italian clients this year on voluntary disclosure,
starting with just three or four a week in January and increasing to about 70 last week,
Schlichting said. Of the 300 clients, only one decided to withdraw all money from Switzerland
for personal reasons, while some clients chose to add to funds here after declaring them, he
said.
Fines, Probes
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“Italian individuals have a lack of trust toward the administration in Italy,” said Louis Macchi,
a Lugano­based tax adviser for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Switzerland. “This is one of
“Italy was the biggest remaining market for which a solution on undeclared assets had to be
found” after the U.K., France and Germany, said Andreas Venditti, a banking analyst at
Vontobel in Zurich. “Banks may be facing billions of gross outflows, but the biggest clients
bloomberg.com / Bloomberg News Online
will probably keep their accounts here after declaring them.”
KPMG has already advised about 300 Italian clients this year on voluntary disclosure,
starting with just three or four a week in January and increasing to about 70 last week,
Schlichting said. Of the 300 clients, only one decided to withdraw all money from Switzerland
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for personal reasons, while some clients chose to add to funds here after declaring them, he
Datum: 25.02.2015
said.
Fines, Probes
“Italian individuals have a lack of trust toward the administration in Italy,” said Louis Macchi,
a Lugano­based tax adviser for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Switzerland. “This is one of
the reasons why I believe clients will continue to have their money in Switzerland.” He said
he expects at least 50,000 cases of disclosure under the voluntary program.
The inefficiencies of the Italian financial system make Switzerland an attractive place for
banks from across the border, said Martin Maurer, who heads the Association of Foreign
Banks in Switzerland.
Maurer said the tax treaty “could even lead to large Italian banks increasing their presence in
Ticino,” an Italian­speaking Swiss region bordering Italy.
Switzerland is the world’s largest center for offshore funds, managing about $2.3 trillion for
clients who don’t reside there, according to estimates by the Boston Consulting Group. Secret
accounts came under scrutiny after UBS in 2009 admitted to helping Americans evade taxes,
paid $780 million to avoid prosecution and handed over information on about 4,700
accounts. Credit Suisse pleaded guilty and was fined $2.8 billion last year by the U.S.
authorities on similar charges.
French Investigation
In France, authorities probing whether UBS helped clients evade taxes issued warrants for
the arrest of three former officials from the bank, a person with knowledge of the
investigation said last week.
Italian “clients are systematically being urged to disclose their untaxed assets,” said Enzo
Caputo with swiss­banking­lawyers.com, a Zurich­based lawyer who specializes in advising
bank clients. “The money is being watched very closely now. Swiss banks have established
special desks for non tax­compliant clients.”
UBS’s “Italian clients will now document their tax status, like it already happened in the other
European markets,” Serge Steiner, a spokesman for the Zurich­based bank said in an e­
mailed statement.
‘Last Innings’
Italy is part of “the last innings” of getting European clients to prove their tax compliance,
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Credit Suisse Chief Executive Officer Brady Dougan said on a conference call with analysts on
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Feb. 12. The voluntary disclosure program will probably lead to more funds flowing from
Switzerland back to Italy, he said.
Caputo with swiss­banking­lawyers.com, a Zurich­based lawyer who specializes in advising
bank clients. “The money is being watched very closely now. Swiss banks have established
bloomberg.com /special desks for non tax­compliant clients.”
Bloomberg News Online
UBS’s “Italian clients will now document their tax status, like it already happened in the other
European markets,” Serge Steiner, a spokesman for the Zurich­based bank said in an e­
mailed statement.
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Datum: 25.02.2015
‘Last Innings’
Italy is part of “the last innings” of getting European clients to prove their tax compliance,
Credit Suisse Chief Executive Officer Brady Dougan said on a conference call with analysts on
Feb. 12. The voluntary disclosure program will probably lead to more funds flowing from
Switzerland back to Italy, he said.
The bank “welcomes the Italian voluntary disclosure program, in combination with an
agreement between the governments of Switzerland and Italy,” Credit Suisse said in a
statement.
Credit Suisse is being probed by prosecutors in Milan as part of an investigation into alleged
tax evasion by clients, Il Sole 24 Ore reported Tuesday, without naming sources. An official
for the bank declined to comment on the report. The bank had previously confirmed that its
offices in Milan were searched in December.
“It is important to clean up the past,” said Sindy Schmiegel, a spokeswoman for the Swiss
Bankers Association. “Banks are weighing the risks. ‘Which clients can I serve, where do I get
in trouble?’ If a client doesn’t want to come clean, there are certain means to put pressure on
them.”
‘Major Effort’
BSI SA, a bank based in Lugano in southern Switzerland about an hour’s drive from Milan, is
restricting some Italian clients from making cash withdrawals and bank transfers. Some
banks have frozen certain Italian clients’ assets altogether, according to Caputo, as they seek
to avoid being considered accomplices should clients attempt to move their funds to other
offshore financial centers.
“Banks are getting their clients to disclose as quickly as possible, also to limit their own risk,”
said Macchi, the PwC consultant. “It will be a major effort for the banks to get all their clients
to disclose by the end of September.”
Banks will also face “hundreds of millions” in costs to manage the disclosures, said Claudio
Generali, president of the Ticino Bankers Association. Longer term, the increased
competition that will result from the end of banking secrecy will probably also squeeze fees,
he said.
“Of course we need to keep pace with competitors in Germany or in London, and that will
squeeze the commission or returns of the bank,” Generali said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jeffrey Vögeli in Zurich at [email protected];
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Elena Logutenkova in Zurich at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elisa Martinuzzi at
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said Macchi, the PwC consultant. “It will be a major effort for the banks to get all their clients
to disclose by the end of September.”
bloomberg.com / Bloomberg News Online
Banks will also face “hundreds of millions” in costs to manage the disclosures, said Claudio
Generali, president of the Ticino Bankers Association. Longer term, the increased
competition that will result from the end of banking secrecy will probably also squeeze fees,
he said.
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Datum: 25.02.2015
“Of course we need to keep pace with competitors in Germany or in London, and that will
squeeze the commission or returns of the bank,” Generali said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jeffrey Vögeli in Zurich at [email protected];
Elena Logutenkova in Zurich at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elisa Martinuzzi at
[email protected] Heather Smith, Steve Bailey
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