Switzerland’s Committee on National Economy has rejected proposal made by the Council of States in the debate of the Lex USA to ask the country’s financial watchdog FINMA carry out probe practices of Swiss banks’ foreign wealth management customers after 2011.
The Committee voted to scrap the proposal with 13 members against 11.
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For most, it is not the task of the supervisory authority FINMA to carry out work of "historical facts." These would be of such magnitude that they absorb much of the resources of the FINMA, the commission said.
The "Lex USA" legislation was designed to end the row with the US, over the precise role of Swiss banks in assisting US clients in escaping their US tax obligations. Intended to draw a line under the past disagreements, the bill would have authorized all of the Confederation’s banks to cooperate with the US authorities and to make available the information necessary to safeguard their interests.
Despite the parliamentary rejection of the Lex USA text, both the Swiss National Council and the Council of States each approved an identical statement in which they concluded that Swiss banks should put the past to rest in the tax dispute with the US, and recognized the need to find a swift solution, urging the Federal Council to take every measure within the scope of existing law to enable the banks to cooperate with the Department of Justice (DoJ).
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By GlobalData
