Politics Switzerland

Swiss to pay 2 bln Sfr for German tax deal-paper

ZURICH, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Germany has agreed that Swiss banks will only have to pay 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.6 billion) as an upfront payment to seal a deal on Wednesday to regularise untaxed money stashed in secret accounts, a Swiss paper reported. Germany had originally sought a payment of 10 billion francs but this was seen as too much for big banks UBS , Credit Suisse to manage, the SonntagsZeitung reported, citing unnamed sources involved in the talks. Switzerland’s two biggest banks UBS and Credit Suisse are expected to pay the majority of the advance payment but other smaller banks will also have to cough up. The upfront payment should ultimately be recouped from the bank’s clients. The advance payment is part of a deal aimed at settling a dispute over an estimated 200 billion francs held by German citizens in untaxed Swiss accounts. The newspaper said in return for limiting the advance payment, the two sides had agreed on a withholding tax on future interest income of 26 percent, above the 25 percent Germany levies on capital gains and profits from share sales. Switzerland and Germany are expected to agree the outlines of the deal on Wednesday after months of negotiations.
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Swiss minister spices up parliamentary debate with giggling fit over cured meat rules

Switzerland’s finance minister has sparked hilarity in the Alpine nation by collapsing into giggles while answering a parliamentary question about imports of cured meats.

The video showing Hans-Rudolf Merz convulsing with laughter at the unintelligible bureaucratic language in his script has created popular sympathy for the outgoing finance chief.

Merz was widely criticized in recent years for signing away much of Switzerland’s banking secrecy and failing to secure the release of two Swiss citizens held by Libya.

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Personenfreizügigkeit , Schweiz und EU , Beliebtheit der Schweiz , Politische Situation in der Schweiz

Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on Jan 27

The Swiss government needs to resolve the legal impasse which threatens to derail a deal over UBS client data struck with U.S. tax authorities, the bank’s chairman Kaspar Villiger was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Switzerland’s cabinet will discuss how to prevent a possible collapse of a deal with the United States to end a damaging tax case against UBS after a court blocked the transfer of one client’s data.

More information on reuters.com