The failure of Swiss banks to inform their clients before introducing new account fees, which are often sharply higher for foreigners than for Swiss residents, were among the most common complaints, the ombundsman said on Tuesday.
Raising fees is one way Swiss banks can persuade clients to leave, though the banks have become far more forceful about dropping U.S. clients since the United States widened an investigation into how they might have helped U.S. citizens seeking to dodge taxes through offshore accounts.
Switzerland wants the investigations, which focus on eleven Swiss banks including Credit Suisse and Julius Baer , dropped in exchange for payment of fines and the transfer of names of thousands of U.S. bank clients. At the same time, Switzerland is seeking a deal to shield the remainder of its 300 or so banks from U.S. prosecution.
Julius Baer handed over to the United States about 2,500 names of employees, former employees, and external asset managers and lawyers as part of the probe, Douglas Hornung, a partner at Geneva-based law firm Hornung Avocats, said last week.
Banks not involved in the probes have sought to safeguard themselves by imposing blanket bans on American clients, a move which poses difficulties for the scores of U.S. citizens living and working in Switzerland.
Raising fees is one way Swiss banks can persuade clients to leave, though the banks have become far more forceful about dropping U.S. clients since the United States widened an investigation into how they might have helped U.S. citizens seeking to dodge taxes through offshore accounts.
Switzerland wants the investigations, which focus on eleven Swiss banks including Credit Suisse and Julius Baer , dropped in exchange for payment of fines and the transfer of names of thousands of U.S. bank clients. At the same time, Switzerland is seeking a deal to shield the remainder of its 300 or so banks from U.S. prosecution.
Julius Baer handed over to the United States about 2,500 names of employees, former employees, and external asset managers and lawyers as part of the probe, Douglas Hornung, a partner at Geneva-based law firm Hornung Avocats, said last week.
Banks not involved in the probes have sought to safeguard themselves by imposing blanket bans on American clients, a move which poses difficulties for the scores of U.S. citizens living and working in Switzerland.
