Secrecy trouble for Swiss Banking.

Think of Switzland, and the images that flash across your mind are that of scenic beauty, cheese, and chocolates. But for the money-minded, especially those who value secrecy, whether legal or questionable, it is Swiss banking that comes to the mind. Switzerland is the perfect hideaway, for money, whether legal or otherwise.
Banking has been the cornerstone of the Swiss economy for centuries. Anc secrecy the grease that has kept the institution of Banking going on smoothly, without so much as murmur, all these centuries.
All that is now under sever strain, and Swiss banking is facing the most serious and potent threat to its very existence. Ever since money laundering and terrorist financing became an international issue, offshore financial centers offering secret accounts, and not burdening their clients with too much of legalese, have been facing the heat. Accused of aiding and abetting tax evasion by foreign citizens by encouraging them to park their funds with them, Swiss banks are now encircled with international laws and lawmakers that are determined to break the backbone of Swiss banking by bringing them in alignment with regular banking laws prevalent elsewhere.
Right now, the U.S. and Switzerland are in the midst of a royal row with the U.S. trying its best to get hold of details of about 52,000 of its citizens maintaining accounts with Union Bank of Switzerland, and said to have violated U.S. tax laws. And on its part, Switzerland is throwing everything in its armory to stave off what could turn out to be the death blow to its Banking industry.
The U.S. Justice Department is going all out against the Swiss Banking giant with the IRS providing ammo in the form of the “John Doe summons” that entitles it to obtain the names of American citizens who are likely to have broken U.S. tax laws, by taking advantage of offshore accounts, like in the above case with the UBS.
To be concluded.