I think all of us have heard both myths and facts on benefits that brings having a bank accoun is Swiss.

Doing a research I found this link swiss-bank-accounts.com

However I'm wondering if it worth a try in a long-term because, is a real benefit get such type of accounts?

Do you really need a swiss bank account? Unless you are a criminal or a millionaire (or some government agent), why do you need one?

That is a good point, the only reason that I know of that you would need a Swiss Bank account is if you had a lot of money that needed to be stored.

Swiss accounts have different laws then other banks accounts, there untouchable in some senses. I dont think you would need one.

Really, they are untouchable? I had no idea. I was just reading about the Swiss dollar in Jack Crook’s brochure Crook’s on Currencies. Very interesting booklet. He was talking about ETFs or Currency Exchange Trading Funds.

Having an offshore account, be it a Swiss account or a Cayman account, is good because you never know what your government is going to do to your banking laws.

Hey,

Swiss bank account opening can be very easy,
If you want to open an account for yourself online
without any hassle, just follow this link:

open-bank-account dot com

Swiss bank accounts are good in that you can hide big sums of money from taxes but when you're not making much that just seems ridiculous to open one.

lihugelem it might be easy to open a swiss bank account but who would really need one? Like daytrader said....not very many types of people would logically need to open a bank account. If you were seriously considering it you would probably be well off and talking to your personal financial advisor to handle the situation for you

Hi MasterMind if you have a massive amount of money you need to hide send it my way!

Off shore banking is a good way to take advantage of better interest rates and diversify your portfolio in terms of risk or security. I am a financial advisor in a top investment company in the caribbean and we have branches worldwide and for my clients in the United States and London saving in this account is a great opportunity for them to save tax free and double their returns, and in some instances minimise their risk of loss in a local stock affiliated account since the fund is backed by a statutory reserve held in the Central Bank. All the inestments are made in a group of non co-related assets so there is a small probability of risk. For instance we invest in Manufacturing, Construction, Energy and Finance, all sectors of which are owned by our Flag ship company. So to you guys who want to save and pay less tax and get a fixed rate over a specified term off shore banking is the way to go. Send me a message if you would like more information...

Regards
Cambir

I can think of a very good reason to get a swiss bank account - if you have to stop work due to ill health then you will recieve no benefits from the state if you have any money/investments in UK banks.
So you are discriminated against for being prudent.Those who run up debts and save nothing get all the benefits under the sun.

Unfortunately too true - and welcome to the forums.

Are you a Financial Advisor?

this is really interesting. i also need a swiss bank account! i am neither a criminal, nor a politician, nor i have un-accounted money. can i get one?
but jokes apart, why i call it interesting, as i would like to know what are the other benefit, besides putting your black money there? just for knowledge
vik

Isn't the reason normally both tax advantages and extreme privacy?

Hi

I live in Switzerland, am a trader and deal with clients in trading positions and taxation. Believe me all the myths and legends of Swiss banking, are for the most part, dead and buried.

Yes, banking secrecy is still here, however this is being eroded by the larger economies tax offices. The IRS have just collared UBS and it looks like they may give up 20,000 names and details of US citizens with undecalered Swiss Accounts. An LGT bank employee was bribed by the German authorities to give information on clients holding acounts in Lichtenstein, several have been arrested. 50,000 UK citizens gave their information voluntarily to he UK Revenue because the IR said they had details of bank accounts offshore, and if you didn't admit it, and they had your details, you could be proecuted.

Right now, and I know this from experience, the big banks in Switzerland will be very, very warey of any US citzen who wants to open an account and they will want you to declare it. If you want an undeclared account you would probably have to go to a smaller private bank, but don't think about it unless you have at least £500k to invest with the bank (i.e they manager your money).

To combat previous reputations of 'millionaires and criminals' there are strict money laundering laws in place now which go beyond anything previously seen. Send a large amount of money from your account to anywhere and someone from the bank will call and ask questions, they may even ask you to get passport copies and proof of address of the person you are sending it to. The Swiss have adopted an EU rule which makes things difficult. This is that any overseas transfer (i.e into Europe.. Switzerland is not part of Europe) will have the details of the sender, the address and bank details.. send money to your UK account from your undeclared Swiss account and you will be caught at some stage.

The secrecy laws include not giving up your information for bankruptcy, divorce, tax evasion (it is not a crime here), but in practice many of the larger banks, with branches in EU countries or the US have little protection when these goverments threaten to close down their UK offices if they are not cooperative.

The good news, however, is that there are many talented tax experts here, as you would imagine, who can create legal structures that can help in legally protecting your money from the tax man. You have to have a ton of cash to really make it worthwhile.