| Is the Swiss banking industry losing its edge? Many fear that the country, which
is at present estimated to hold one third of the private money managed offshore, is
one of the jurisdictions most at risk from the changing dynamics of the
international private banking industry. It is no longer the only country with a
strong currency and an absence of exchange controls, and recent international
pressure to tighten up on tax evasion and money laundering means that its
banking secrecy laws just ain't what they used to be. UBS and Credit Suisse, two
of Switzerland's largest banks only increased their assets under management by
a combined SFr20 billion last year. |