The international tensions created by President Trump are reporting the wealthy Americans of the Americans in the Confederation in Switzerland. And for the Italians? The characteristics of the Swiss system still make it attractive.
Tornado-trump is pushing the rich Americans to rediscover Switzerland, historic safe in the world, Despite its proverbial banking of banking, it is now a memory of the past. A recent investigation by Financial Times In fact, he revealed a growing interest from US customers to private bankers, family office and patrimonial management company based in the Confederation. To bring wealthy Americans closer to Switzerland would be fears of possible upheavals in the US tax legislation and in general the concerns about the geopolitical instability fueled by the new president. However, accessing the Swiss banking system for an American citizen is not easy. Stringent regulations, primarily the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) of 2010, impose on institutions from all over the world to identify and report the accounts detention from US taxpayers to the Internal Revenue Service, the American tax agency. The implementation of the Fatca represented a significant burden for Swiss banks, inducing many of them, especially the minor ones, to close the doors to US customers.
To change the relations between Switzerland and the United States was a historical event: The agreement reached in 2009 between the UBS bank giant and the American Justice Department. To close an investigation into alleged activities of aiding and abetting tax evasion, the Swiss giant of credit agreed to pay a 780 million dollar fine and, even more sensational, to provide the users with the data relating to thousands of American customers. This case broke the perception of an untouchable Swiss banking secret, forcing the entire sector to a profound reflection and marking a decisive increase in caution in accepting US customers. The real revolution, however, came with the adoption by the Confederation of the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) on a global basis, operational since 2017 with an increasing number of partner countries. This international standard provides for the systematic and regular transmission, among the tax authorities of the participating states, of detailed information on the financial accounts held by non -residents, including data on sales, interests, dividends and proceeds from the sale of financial assets. In fact, the Aeoi decreed the end of the era of banking secretity for the vast majority of foreign customers.
To further cure the myth of the country as a safe harbor It was the dramatic crisis of Credit Suisse, culminating in its forced acquisition by rival Ubs in March 2023. A terrible shock: he avoided a potential global financial collapse but inevitably scalpy the infallibility image of the financial square, raising questions about risk management in large systemic banks and on the adequacy of vigilance. Relations with Italy have also been deeply redesigned. Already in February 2015, a bilateral protocol modified the convention against double impositions, introducing the exchange of information on request according to the OECD standards and formally putting the word “fine” to the banking secret between the two countries. This agreement was also crucial to facilitate the Italian programs of “voluntary disclosure”, allowing many taxpayers to regularize capital held in Switzerland and not declared to the Italian tax authorities. Yet, despite these changes, the Confederation is firmly confirmed at the world summit in the management of cross -border assets, administering about 2,400 billion dollars in 2024, despite having to face the increasingly fierce competition of Asian financial centers such as Hong Kong and Singapore. The revenue towards the Confederation come from Europe, from Asia (China in the lead), from the Arab countries. For Italians, Canton Ticino has always been the pole of attraction.
Significant flows were recorded in particular during the European sovereign debt crisis (around 2012, with an acceleration in 2016)fueled by fears about the stability of the eurozone, the fear of the property and the desire to diversify their assets. But over the years the Ticino financial square has lost its appeal: the data show that in the 39 banks present in the Canton Ticino the total of deposits is falling, from almost 21 billion francs of 2014 to 14 billion ten years later. Today owning a current account in Switzerland is perfectly legal for an Italian citizen. The essential condition is that the funds deposited come from lawful sources, declared and fiscally “clean”. Any attempt to use Swiss accounts to conceal illegal proceeds or escape the Italian tax authorities remains illegal and persisted, also thanks to the information exchange agreements in force.
Italian tax obligations are clear: Foreign accounts must be declared annually in the RW framework of the tax return, indicating the maximum balance reached in the tax period (the failure In addition, on the financial assets held abroad, the value of the value of the financial assets held abroad (IVAFE) is paid. For current accounts, it is a fixed annual tax of 34.20 euros (generally due if the average stock exceeds five thousand euros), while for other financial instruments a proportional rate is applied. If the secrecy is no longer the main driver, what continues to make Switzerland attractive for Italian capital? The strengths reside in its legendary political and economic stability, in the neutrality that makes it a safe harbor perceived to the shelter from geopolitical turbulence (a value appreciated for the preservation of the heritage in the long run, also through generations) and in the solidity of the Swiss franc, considered a currency of the refuge.
Not only that. Confidentiality is also an important asset: episodes such as the spread of the “Falciani list” – which brought to light the data of about seven thousand Italian account holders at the Geneva branch of HSBC – they now belong to a past era of less transparency and famous people, such as Valentino Rossi and Ornella Vanoni, who appeared on the list, still prefer that their accounts end up under the eyes of Swiss officials rather than some Italian employees, perhaps a little bib.
