The Onslaught on Swiss Banks II

SamRatan1 April 02, 2010

General Carl von Clausewitz called tactics as the theory of the use of military forces in combat and strategy as the theory of the use of combat for the object of the war. In the war of financial interests, the Swiss Government appears to follow strategic goals in protecting their Financial Industry interests by agreeing to hand over the data of 4’000 US American Swiss bank customers to the US Government.

We need to recall that Bank Secrecy Laws make it a punishable offence to anyone who divulges customer information. Using certain clauses in the labyrinth of Swiss Laws, the Swiss government justified its raison d’être even though the Supreme Court has ruled that such an act is unlawful. So what makes the Swiss Government take such a step? Faced with an onslaught on the UBS , which was known to actively encourage and abet tax fraud, and the combined might of the IRS and US Government agencies who were demanding that data of 52’000 customers be handed over, the Swiss government agreed to sacrifice a couple of thousand customers in the greater cause. Was this tactical step going to serve a greater strategic goal?

Hidden in this logical thinking is the hope that the Swiss Banking Industry will have breathing space to come up with a long lasting solution to save the necks of the hundreds of thousands of other customers who have stashed away their wealth in the coffers of the Swiss Banking Institutions. Would it be reasonable to assume that an amnesty for the past, if such an amnesty could be agreed to, would prevent the outflow of Billions from Swiss Banks? From the US and Canada to Europe ash covered citizens are queuing at Income Tax Offices to declare their black money, in the face of data leaks that stem from Governmental and other inofficial sources such as stolen data that is making the rounds in various countries.

Visionaries may at times have or may not have charisma, but they have the honesty to call a spade a spade. Political institutions in Switzerland lack both charisma and the honesty to speak the truth, though they may well see the writing on the wall. Switzerland finds itself in a catharsis that reminds one of the “Reduit” (fortified defence structure) stoicism of World War II, where the Alps were to serve as a bulwark and fortress for the Armed Forces and the protection of the Nation, as the common folk held out in their underground bomb shelters.