Switzerland Seeks Banker Image Boost in Germany After Tax Cases

Switzerland’s ambassador to Germany said his country is working to improve its image after years of revelations that Germans used Swiss banks to avoid taxes.

Ambassador Tim Guldimann pointed to Switzerland’s support of an international agreement on automatic tax-data sharing in Berlin in October as a sign of his country’s shifting position. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble lauded Switzerland’s participation in the accord at the time.

“German policy makers have recognized that there’s been movement on Switzerland’s part,” Guldimann said in an interview in Berlin on Nov. 14. “The general public hasn’t realized that so much yet. You still see those shady Swiss bankers on German crime shows.”

Banking secrecy has crumbled amid U.S. prosecutions of Swiss banks for helping Americans evade taxes and purchases of stolen Swiss bank-account data by German state governments. Switzerland remains the largest hub for offshore banking, with $2.3 trillion of cross-border assets in 2013.

Faced with being exposed by stolen data, German citizens have been declaring Swiss-held money to the authorities. Among them is soccer hero Uli Hoeness, who pleaded guilty to evading more than 18 million euros ($22.5 million) in taxes on trading profits he hid in Switzerland. German state governments rejected a treaty with Switzerland to stem tax evasion in 2012, saying it didn’t go far enough.

“The question is whether cases from the past turn up that were legal under Swiss law at the time but not under the foreign country’s laws,” Guldimann said. “We have to live with that.”