Bank Secrecy: Switzerland will help in tax cases - on certain conditions.
Switzerland - which has for a number of years provided much more assistance in tax cases than its critics like to say - has agreed to become more open. But there are conditions.
"Against the background of the financial crisis, international cooperation has grown stronger particularly against tax crimes," Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz says.
But foreign governments should not assume that they can walk in and grab banking records. Merz makes it plain that to gain information, they will have to provide "compelling evidence."
In short, no fishing expeditions and those making requests will have to formulate them properly - something American authorities are notoriously bad at.
Also, requests will be limited to specific, individual cases: mass requests will not be accepted.
Switzerland will adopt the OECD's standards - but will expect others to do the same.
"Banking secrecy does not protect tax crimes," Merz said, not bothering to remind critics that this has been the case for several years.
Critics have focussed on the fact that Switzerland has rejected requests for information based on tax evasion - for the simple reason that there is no such offence in Switzerland. But if requests are framed on the basis of fraudulently filed financial records, there is no problem.
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