Report: Swiss banks eye tax pledge for foreigners

ZURICH - Swiss banks are considering asking some foreign clients to sign a pledge declaring they aren't breaking tax laws at home, a Swiss newspaper reported Sunday.

The chairman of the Swiss Bankers Association, Patrick Odier, told weekly NZZ am Sonntag that the industry group is examining various ways of forestalling demands for an automatic exchange of client information with other countries.

Odier said one option would be to make customers from nations that have a tax agreement with Switzerland sign a written declaration that they are conforming to their country's tax laws.

The SBA also favors an anonymized tax on interest earned that would be handed over to the foreign client's government.

Odier told NZZ am Sonntag that the proposals have yet to be finalized.

Over the past year, Switzerland has come under sustained pressure from the U.S. and other countries to stamp out tax evasion by foreigners hiding funds in Swiss vaults. Earlier this year, the government agreed to relax its strict banking secrecy laws to allow legal help for foreign governments in cases of suspected large-scale tax evasion by their citizens.

Odier said existing fortunes that have been stashed in Switzerland but not declared at home could be legalized with tax amnesties, a process he said could take several years.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.