Since 2009, Switzerland lost its dominant position in offshore private banking to competing jurisdictions such as the US, UK and China. With a 100% Swiss trust, some lost ground could be recovered.
It has been a decade-long desert crossing, since Switzerland had to give up its offshore private banking paradigm, together with international banking secrecy in 2009. The shock, initially caused by the U.S. probe into the UBS role in helping Americans avoid taxes, extended to Europe’s assault on Swiss secrecy practices. Swiss banks were in for difficult times, having to ensure regularization of undeclared assets.