As consequence of misbehavior of some employees of Credit Suisse who were hiding losses from their supervisors in 1977 through an offshore trustee company, a new tougher bank regulation came (due-diligence rules compelling banks to identify all clients and establish beneficial ownership of assets). For over two decades now, banks have been obliged to keep a copy of a form of official identification of clients (a measure that U.S. banks are only now starting to adopt as part of the post-Sept. 11 fight against terrorism). Therefore, bank secrecy does not mean, as many want to make believe, that there are no controls. Clients need to be identified (even with numbered accounts) and stricter regulations than in other countries have been imposed since the early 1990’s. Also, the lift of the obligation of bank secrecy is possible by court decision when there is suspicion of money laundering of funds proceeding from criminal activities. Obviously, from what is considered a criminal activity under Swiss law; and tax evasion is not.
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