“Please leave the door ajar.” Swiss private bankers have long believed that banking secrecy is fiction, albeit a useful one; the war against drugs and money laundering saw to that. Even so, UBS's out of court settlement with the US has now broadcast the fact. The details of some 5,000 secret account holders will reportedly be handed over by the Swiss bank to the US tax authorities. UBS may also be fined – as much as SFr5bn. More important than the number of names or the size of any eventual fine, however, are the basis on which these tax evaders will be disclosed. That affects who might be handed over to other foreign tax authorities in future, and the industry as a whole.
「請不要把門關上。」長期以來，瑞士私人銀行家一直相信，銀行業的保密性純屬虛構，雖然這種制度相當有用。打擊毒品和洗錢行爲的戰爭決定了銀行業的保密性並不存在。即便如此，瑞銀(UBS)與美國政府庭外和解的訊息如今讓這個事實廣爲人知。據報道，瑞銀將向美國稅務部門提供約5000個祕密賬戶持有人的詳細資訊。瑞銀可能還將接受高達50億瑞士法郎的罰款。然而，比賬戶數量和最終罰款金額更重要的是，披露這些逃稅者資訊的依據。這影響到未來又會有哪些人的資訊被交給其它外國稅務部門，同時也會影響到整個私人銀行業的發。