Swiss bankers stay home amid US global tax evasion manhunt

As a US hunt for tax evaders and their accomplices gains momentum, many Swiss bankers are afraid to go abroad for fear of arrest, one business leader said.

“In my opinion, some 1,000 Swiss bankers no longer dare to go to the United States, or even travel abroad,” Martin Naville, the head of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, was quoted as saying by Swiss weekly Le Matin Dimanche on Sunday.

Swiss banks and industry representatives are increasingly cautioning bankers who have worked with US clients to refrain from travelling outside Switzerland, the paper reported.

The long-time tax haven’s banks are believed to have accepted tens of billions of undeclared dollars from US citizens, though they now refuse such money, and several banks are under US investigation.

The US has not made public which individual bankers it is probing, but according to Le Matin Dimanche, about 30 names are on the list.

Recently however, “the United States has proven it can strike where and when it likes, and now with the help of European countries”, the paper wrote, describing widespread paranoia throughout the banking industry.