Switzerland is pretty safe.
I got this off a website if you are interested:
Any banker in switzerland who reveals information about you without your consent risks several months in prison.
Bank secrecy is not lifted for tax evasion. This is because failure to report income or assets is not considered a crime in Switzerland. As such, neither the Swiss government, nor anyother government, can obtain information about your bank account. They must first convince a Swiss judge that you have committed a serious crime punishable by the Swiss Penal Code.
Bank secrecy will not be lifted for private matters such as inheritance or divorce if you have kept your banking information strictly confidential. It is up to plaintiffs to prove that the account exists if they wish the judge to pursue the case. In this respect, the numbered account provides the maximum degree of confidentiality.
What are the limits of bank secrecy?
Exceptions to bank secrecy are strictly regulated by law. They concern:
Criminal matters such as drug trafficking or gun smuggling. Thus, bank secrecy is not an obstacle in the fight against serious crime. The majority of cases for which bank secrecy is lifted fall under this category.
Private matters such as inheritance and divorce. In practice, however, bank secrecy is rarely lifted in such cases.
The consequences of Swiss bank secrecy violation
Any violation of professional secrecy in the banking industry - whether intentional or not - is punishable by criminal law. Consequently, a Swiss banker who divulges information about a client without his or her consent can incur up to six months in prison and a fine of up to 50,000 Swiss francs, since double punishment is applicable.
The Swiss public attorney automatically begins prosecution as soon as an offense is made known. This situation therefore differs from the violation of professional secrecy by a lawyer or doctor, for in such a case it is up to the aggrieved person to take legal action.
In addition to the criminal sentence, the aggrieved client can take civil action and sue the bank for damages.
All of this to say that the banks take every necessary precaution to avoid violating bank secrecy and that this type of affair is practically non-existant in Switzerland.
The limits to Swiss bank secrecy
There are a limited number of exceptions to Swiss bank secrecy that are strictly regulated by law.
In theory, bank secrecy can be lifted for matters such as inheritance, divorce and debt and bankruptcy by order of a legal authority.
In practice, Swiss bank secrecy is very difficult to lift, for the plaintiff must first prove before the Swiss court* that the account exists in Switzerland, e.g. by producing a bank statement.
Swiss bank secrecy is most often lifted for criminal cases such as narcotics trafficking, extortion, terrorism, etc. The objective of a criminal trial is not to plead in the interest of the parties, but for the sake of public interest, and so the client's right to bank secrecy gives precedence to the interest of justice. As such, bank secrecy is not an obstacle to criminal prosecution. Both the justice system and the Swiss banks take active part in the fight against money laundering.
Note that tax evasion is not considered sufficient grounds for lifting Swiss bank secrecy.
