In the 1930s, German fascist forces ravaged Europe. Due to the persecution of Nazi regime, almost all German citizens were forced to transfer their deposits in Swiss banks to German banks, which made many Swiss banks almost run. In order to avoid the recurrence of this huge deposit loss, the Swiss government promulgated the first western law on bank secrecy in 1934, stipulating that all financial practitioners, whether senior managers or ordinary employees, should not disclose any information related to their business without the consent of depositors. Once someone violates the secrecy law, he will face a fine of 60 thousand Swiss francs or even six years in prison. The decree also stipulates that the Swiss government will not provide information about its bank accounts unless depositors are involved in criminal cases and prosecuted abroad.
During World War II, due to its special neutral status, Switzerland became the main place for gold trading in Nazi Germany and other countries. Countries bought and sold gold from the Swiss central bank in exchange for hard currency Swiss francs. The Swiss national bank simply doesn't ask the origin of gold, and blindly earns a huge difference from it. It is said that at that time, 90% of the gold transactions of Nazi German Imperial Bank were conducted through Swiss National Bank. A considerable part of the huge property plundered by the Nazis through the war was also deposited in Swiss banks.
Before the end of World War II, the shrewd Swiss saw that the Nazi's luck had run out and frozen German accounts. 1945, the allied forces demanded that Switzerland return the gold with an estimated value of more than 500 million dollars deposited by Nazi Germany in Swiss banks. However, Switzerland and the Allies wrangled and denied that there was so much Nazi gold. As the United States and the Soviet Union became hostile, the Cold War began. The west not only needs Switzerland to strictly adhere to its neutral stance, but also needs its help in the post-war reconstruction of Europe, so it gave up the Nazi gold problem and finally accepted the repayment of about 60 million US dollars from Switzerland.
This incident is a great victory for Swiss banks to defend their own interests after the implementation of the bank secrecy law in Switzerland, and the bank secrecy law has therefore become an important magic weapon for Swiss banks to attract foreign investment. Many foreign dignitaries, even gang leaders, keep legal or unknown assets in Swiss banks, thus avoiding the eyes and ears of domestic tax authorities. Swiss Private Bankers' Association announced on June 5,438+10 that Switzerland is in charge of global13 private property, with a total value of about 3.7 trillion Swiss francs.