Swiss Banks Block Access to Offshore Accounts on Tax Deals

Some Swiss banks are blocking clients from gaining full access to offshore accounts in connection with tax treaties being negotiated between Switzerland and Germany, the U.K. and the U.S., the Swiss banking ombudsman said.

“This is a new type of complaint we’re getting” this year, Hanspeter Haeni said by telephone yesterday, adding that he’s not allowed to disclose the names of the banks. “I’m afraid there will probably be more such cases.”