printIn 2001, I had the unusual occasion to commend the Bush Administration for refusing “to support an attempt by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to clamp down on tax havens. If the junta of high-tax governments has its way,” I wrote in the Financial Post, “not only will there be no place left to run to, but by eliminating what tax havens offer, these governments will have eliminated tax competition, and with it the imperative to downsize their fiefdoms.”
(The occasion was an unusual one, because I’ve had only two positives things to say about the last band of vandals to have trashed the country: I approved of Bush upholding Terry Schiavo’s negative right to life. And I seconded his refusal to capitulate to the Kyoto-protocol crazies. Great record: mine, that is.)
The obama thugs, however, are adamant to muscle every American who attempts to safeguard his property. Reports the WSJ: “Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which has delved into alleged tax haven abuse for years, said he hopes a bill he is sponsoring, and similar legislation in the House, will stop banks from doing what UBS did.”
What did UBS do?
UBS is honoring its contract with its depositors, and fighting U.S. efforts to obtain the names of another 52,000 of its Swiss account holders.
“Levin expressed frustration that despite treaty obligations Swiss authorities and UBS continue to hold out against U.S. demands. ‘We cannot rely on the Swiss; that’s the bottom line,’ he said.”
Yippee, and let us hope the Swiss continue to hold out against the globe-trotting Obamaites.
Recommended: “The War on Tax Havens”
‘We cannot rely on the Swiss; that’s the bottom line,’
The Swiss will not break on this issue. They have too much to lose. The Swiss secrecy laws were put in place decades ago to, among other things, protect foreign citizens from persecution by their governments who treated the presence of foreign accounts as a capital offense in some cases for certain groups.
“cannot rely on the Swiss”. Heh. Yeah I guess they can’t rely on them to allow looting governments to grab the wealth. Sen. Levin also hinted about legislation supported by Obama that would prohibit US Citizens from having foreign account holdings. When countries have prevented their citizens from holding capital outside of their jurisdiction things have usually deteriorated rapidly. I think a serious money grab is in the works. I can smell it.
A brief history of Swiss banking secrecy is here:
http://www.switzerland.isyours.com/E/banking/secrecy/history.html
The Swiss don’t do anything without a plan. I suggest the first accounts they turn over to Obama be the names of every US politician and power broker who has an account there. Before they do this, they should publicize that they will be doing it concurrently with distributing the list to every news outlet as well.
This is not the first time I’ve said this, and I’m sure it won’t be the last: God bless the Swiss.
Swiss banks will like to increase their presence in India, especially in trade and corporate finance.
And if you have physical gold in a safe deposit box, you might want to think about pulling it out while you still can. If they’re pressing the Swiss about foreign bank accounts, doing another FDR and confiscating people’s gold can’t be far behind.
I fear that Steve Hogan may be correct about gold confiscation…. it is like allowing “private” health care to co-exist with socialized medicine – and is generally forbidden by the Welfare state – same with a rival currency such as gold.