Let's find out about Switzerland. ◆ Commonwealth of Switzerland. Chrysanthemum: Edelweiss. Location: 41,285 : Capital: Bern. Population: 7.26 million Population: 175.8 German (70%), French (9%), Romanian (9%), Romanian (9%), French (Villian: Catholicism) It borders Austria with Italy to the south and France to the west. Switzerland is divided into the Jura Mountains, the Swiss Highlands, and the Alps in the northeast-southwest direction. The Jura Mountains are a hilly mountain range with lower elevations than the Alps. Agriculture and forestry developed in the Jura Mountains. The Swiss plateau has many large cities such as Zurich and has a high population density. The Alps account for more than half of the country's ◆History Around the 5th century B.C., the Hellbetians, a branch of the Celts, settled in Switzerland. They were quickly Romanized after a crushing defeat by the Qesar-led Roman army in the mid-1st century B.C. During the great Germanic migration in the 5th century, the Burgundians settled in the west and the Alamanians in the east. The Burgundians were Latinized and the Alamans maintained the Germanic color, forming the boundary of language. In the Middle Ages it became part of the Frankish Empire, the Holy Roman Empire. The Habsburg family produced the Holy Roman Emperor, which reduced Swiss autonomy. In 1291, a three-member Swiss regional representative formed a permanent alliance for the preservation. This is the origin of the Swiss Confederation, and more states have joined the alliance. The Habsburg Emperor Maximilian of the Holy Roman Empire attacked Switzerland in 1499, but was defeated, and under the Treaty of Basel, Switzerland was granted independence. ◆ Residents of Switzerland live in four languages: German, French, Italian, and Romance. The German-speaking population is 64%, the French-speaking population is 20%, and the Italian-speaking population is 8%. Romance is a mixture of Latin and Italian and is spoken by about 1%. Switzerland is a multi-ethnic country, but there is no secession movement at all. The number of Catholics (47.6%) and Protestants (44.3%) is about the same. There are also very few Jews. ◆ Economic Switzerland has a small land, little agricultural land, and no underground resources. However, the per capita gross national product is the highest in the world. The financial and tourism industries have developed. ◆ Culture Switzerland is located in the center of the European continent, so foreign culture has been constantly introduced, and as a result, culture is colorful. As a neutral country, it was a refuge for many European intellectuals, and there are many excellent European scholars and writers who worked in Switzerland. Henri Dunant, founder of the International Cross and winner of the once Nobel Peace Prize, mathematician Bernoulli, mathematician Euler, and Burkhardt were born in Switzerland. The history of publishing has the longest tradition in Europe and excels in academic, art, and science. - Why Switzerland became rich? - Switzerland also earns considerable income from precision parts such as tourism and watches, but it has a national revenue stream that is incomparable to that. That is the 'financial business'. Anyone would have heard of the word 'Swiss Bank'. - Swiss bank. - ▲ What is Swiss bank? Swiss bank, which is called a "hiding place for black money" by thoroughly hiding the status of a depositor, does not refer to a specific bank. All banks in Switzerland under the Swiss Banking Act, which stipulates that customer confidentiality, are commonly referred to as "Swiss Banks". The same applies to Swiss branches of foreign banks. The three largest Swiss banks, Swiss Union Bank (SUB), Swiss Bank (SBC) and Credit Swiss (CS), are also in charge of general banking, but the amount of secret deposits is also large as they are large banks. Swiss Union Bank (SUB) and Swiss Bank (SBC) merged in 1998 to become the world's No. 1 private banking sector. Some 120 Swiss banks, which mainly handle large private deposits, are located behind Van Hope Street near Zurich Station and around the Geneva Lehmann. There are many places that do not even have a signboard called "BANK," and most of them have two or three stories, which are about 100 bank members and are not large in bank buildings. As of 1999, there were more than 400 Swiss banks, managing more than $2 trillion in funds. ▲ What is a secret account? Usually, secret accounts at Swiss banks refer to numbered accounts for high-value depositors of at least 100,000 Swiss francs. An account consisting of only an account number (e.g., 571260 SQ8) that combines numbers and letters without the name of the depositor. The account number is used instead of the name for all transactions such as deposit, withdrawal, and preparation of transaction statements, and the depositor will not be revealed even if the banker loses the slip. Even bank employees cannot identify their depositors with this account number alone, and very few bank executives can identify them. If you accidentally enter the wrong number and remit money, you may never be able to find it by going into another person's account. The secret account is a checking account, and there is no interest because it is a liquidity deposit. Until 1980, it was operated in the form of depositors paying storage fees. ▲ How do I make and use a secret account? You don't have to go to Switzerland to create a Swiss bank account. If sufficient financial resources are recognized, Swiss bank employees sometimes come to the place where depositors live. To open an account, you need to show your ID, but foreigners can be replaced with passports. Not only individuals but also corporations can open accounts. Banks may unilaterally refuse to open secret accounts regardless of the customer's intention, and in some cases, forced cancellation is possible. Even in this case, confidentiality is strictly guaranteed. Recently, the process of opening an account has become difficult, so to open a number account, you must prove your identity and explain why you create a number account. Withdrawal is possible at any time unless the deposit and securities are set as collateral. However, you must apply in advance 6 전에 before withdrawing. Even if you try to withdraw money by finding the account number, you will not pay unless you are a legal representative of the depositor yourself or a lawyer. However, in the event of a sudden death of a depositor, even if the heir, such as his or her child, does not know the password, he or she can withdraw with only verifiable documents such as a letter from his or her parents that "there is a deposit at OO Bank in Switzerland." ▲ When and why did you get a secret account in Switzerland? In 1870, the Swiss bank opened a secret account with the aim of "Switzerland, a neutral country, will protect the property of the persecuted weak," to prevent ordinary people from losing their property due to phone calls. However, it is not officially recognized by the Swiss government. In 1934, when Jews began to dispose of properties and deposit them in safe Swiss banks to escape Nazi oppression, the Swiss government revised the Banking Act and officially recognized "Swiss Secret Accounts" ▲Who has the Swiss bank account? Every time a revolution occurs in each country and a dictator is driven out, the Swiss bank is mentioned. It is estimated that Mobutu in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) deposited $7 billion, Noriega in Panama $300 million, and Chauchescu in Romania deposited $400 million worth of gold bars in Swiss banks. Recently, it was reported that Venezuela's former president Peres had $7 million, Boris Yeltsin's close aide $25 billion, and former German Chancellor Kohl's political funds of 1920 million marks. In addition, former Nigerian President Abacha's $660 million, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's 17 accounts (estimated between $8 million and $20 million), and Yugoslavia's 100 accounts (about 100 million Swiss francs) were frozen at the request of governments. Besides politicians, criminals' money also goes into hiding in Switzerland. According to a 1995 Swiss government report, Russian mafia funds have been particularly high recently. ▲ Why is black money flocking to Switzerland? The status of a permanently neutral country, political stability, the strength of the Swiss franc, long-standing financial industry know-how, and no tax on deposit interest, but above all, thorough confidentiality and no question of the source of funds are the reason why dictators and criminals flock to Switzerland. The 1982 arrest of a Swiss banker shows how thoroughly Swiss banks are protecting their customers. Italian prosecutors, who arrested two Swiss bankers who were seeking overseas deposits in Rome at the time, negotiated with them to give indulgence if they disclosed the identity of the secret account depositor. One of the two was released after revealing the identity of the client, and the other was finally sentenced to prison for keeping a secret. But the freed employee was fined 50,000 Swiss francs under the Swiss Banking Act, which stipulates that the client's secrets should never be disclosed, and the employee who returned from Italy received huge compensation from the bank for his consolation money. ▲ Has the Swiss Banking Law changed? Switzerland's thorough customer identity guarantee policy has also undergone changes as international criticism has intensified that it is a "black money paradise." In 1977, the Swiss Banking Association signed an agreement on compliance with caution, which calls for identifying customers, banning criminal funds, and banning escape and tax evasion funds, but the banking supervisory authority decided to impose a fine of less than 10 million Swiss francs, but it was weak. In October 1982, the financial regulations were revised to identify depositors before opening a secret account, and background checks were required in advance for deposit transactions of more than 500,000 Swiss francs. In July 1983, the opposition Swiss Social Democratic Party submitted an amendment to the Banking Act to allow each tax authority to view bank records that track tax evasion or violations of the Foreign Exchange Control Act.
A referendum was held on May 20, 1984, with 100,000 signatures of support. However, it was rejected with a 27% approval rating because of concerns that black money would be withdrawn at once and the Swiss bank would go bust. In January 1989, Elizabeth Cobb, then the Minister of Justice and Police and the first female candidate in Switzerland, resigned from the cabinet due to money laundering. This incident shocked the whole of Switzerland, affecting subsequent legal amendments. In July 1990, a money laundering regulation bill was enacted, which stipulated that those who accepted money as deposits knowing it was earned from criminal activities would be sentenced to up to five years in prison and a fine of 1 million Swiss francs, and in October 1991, the "Type B Account System" was abolished. In 1993, when the court judged it to be a criminal act, the identity of the depositor and the nature of the fund were disclosed. In 1996, a bill was enacted to allow disclosure of bank transaction secrets in cases related to crimes such as fraud and drug dealing. The Anti-Money Laundering Act was enacted on April 1, 1998, requiring banks to report the details of financial transactions to the authorities and immediately freeze the deposit and withdrawal of suspected money for five days. ▲ How can the government find black money? When the relevant government applies to Switzerland for judicial assistance, the Swiss Federal Police Agency reviews whether it meets the formal requirements stipulated in Swiss federal law and transfers them to the state government. Since the screening of formal requirements is not difficult, most of the requests for judicial assistance are transferred to the state government. Even if the state government makes decisions such as freezing, confiscating, and returning bank accounts, it is very rare for depositors and others to be processed quickly because they can file complaints in writing within 5 to 10 days. Related banks and companies can also appeal. If the Federal Police Agency directly handles requests for judicial assistance related to violations of high-ranking foreign officials, the period will be greatly shortened. However, based on Article 2 of the European Convention on Criminal Justice Assistance (ECMA), the Swiss government treats political crimes and related acts as not subject to judicial assistance. Therefore, in the case of political slush funds, it depends greatly on whether they are judged as bribes or political funds recognized in Switzerland. ▲ Did you get any money back from the Swiss bank? The Ethiopian military demanded the return of thousands of kilograms of gold (the size of Ethiopia's one-year budget worth $6 billion at the time) deposited by former Ethiopian Emperor Celacie, but the Swiss bank refused, saying it could not pay anyone but him. However, Swiss banks, which used to be ironclad, have recently returned account deposits to governments, although they are very few cases. Five years after the U.S. government requested $22 million deposited in a Swiss bank by U.S. drug dealer Newton in November 1993, the U.S. and Swiss governments decided to split it in half. It is the first time that Switzerland has accepted the return of black money. In September 1997, African dictator Traore returned $3.9 million in secret Swiss accounts to the Republic of Mali. This is the first time that a return measure has been made based on the purpose of judicial cooperation. In July 1998, former Philippine President Marcos returned $570 million in deposits to the Philippine government. ▲ Is Swiss Secrets gone? With the return of Marcos' deposits, the Indonesian government's request for Suharto's account and the request for Mobutu's account in the Democratic Republic of Congo are lined up. However, it is unlikely that each country's annual average of 2,500 requests to verify Swiss accounts will be made so easily. Recently, Switzerland's midnight move, led by Swiss federal prosecutor Carla del Ponte, has led to the arrest and extradition of relatives of former Mexican President Salinas, the investigation of illegal funds by former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, and the investigation of the Russian mafia. However, there is no fundamental change in the Swiss bank's "secretist principle," as the Swiss Federation of Banks said in August this year that it would stick to the Secret Protection Act.
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