L00b Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 The swiss banking system is notorious for its deep secrecy.Not anymore. These days, Luxembourg is more 'secret' than Switzerland. Or than Lichtenstein, for that matter. And is the banks' bank: most EU HQs of financial multinationals are based there, not in CH. E.g. lately, Paypal and eBay (the reason why your eBay(.co.uk) fees, and those of any other EU eBay national site, are LU-VAT-rated). Entirely unsurprisingly, of course. The Swiss have long been popular with wealthy people (people, not companies) for their 'numbered accounts' (Google it up), and their 'aura' of banking secrecy has snowballed from that over the ages in popular culture. The fact that this 'facility' got heavily curtailed quite some time ago (and that it is just about impossible to obtain one these days) in light of international trade treaties (not to mention, unbearable amounts of pressure by the US, UK, Germany and France lately) will likewise take ages to sink in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeMaquis Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 And is the banks' bank: most EU HQs of financial multinationals are based there. E.g. lately, Paypal and eBay (the reason why your eBay(.co.uk) fees, and those of any other EU eBay national site, are LU-VAT-rated). Entirely unsurprisingly, of course. It's not just Switzerland. A few years ago I worked for a company that opened a warehouse in Jersey to ship from in order that VAT wouldn't be charged on the products. They then got rid of all the warehouse staff in the UK. However they went out of business anyway after a year or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 It's not just Switzerland.Of course it's not. In the same spirit as your ex-employer, many EU companies are still shipping direct from their South East Asian manufacturers, and their approach to VAT & import duty is more than "a little lax", shall we say. When you see shipping labels pre-printed with 'gift' as the narrative for the contents, well... But we are talking generally about banking, not logistics: Paypal and eBay didn't headquarter (financially) their EU operations in Luxembourg because of the local VAT rate. They didn't headquarter (financially) their EU operations in Ireland either, despite locating their main EU call centre there and that country's very attractive corporate tax rate (relative to Luxembourg and other EU Member States). You see, in Luxembourg, banking secrecy is constitutional. Not so in Switzerland. Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Ir was caused by speculators. The Swiss government announced that they've capped the franc and it's value started to drop right away. Who can blame them. Swiss manufactured products must have gone up in price accordingly. Very bad for business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magilla Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Could it be to do with them not spending gazillions on foreign wars? In many cases, it's secret banking systems that facilitate war by allowing dictators the means to pay for weapons. They may not actually make war or personally massacre anyone, but they are an enabler of it, and make plenty of money off the back of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I1L2T3 Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 If anybody has been there it's an eye opener. Before you go you imagine everybody living in alpine chalets or in beautiful houses on the shores of the great swiss lakes. The reality is there is a lot of luxury housing but equally a lot of pretty dull towns and cities with lots of dour apartment blocks. People do earn a lot there, even binmen and street sweepers, but they need to to maintain even a basic standard of living. It's an economy heavily skewed towards the wealthy. Ordinary people there don't get such a great deal apart from the chance to enjoy an amazing outdoor lifestyle which not all of them choose to do because of the costs. I met this girl in a bar there in a ski resort. She was from Basle and because I could afford a two week holiday there she thought I was rich :hihi: A bloke I know who lives in the East of Switzerland does his grocery shopping in Austria and won't holiday in Switzerland at all - he always drives into Austria to ski. It can be a financially harsh place to live for the elderly. And there are a fair few people on benefits. And a lot of poor immigrants. It's far from being a paradise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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