Re: Many legitimate reasons to hold a Swiss bank account?
I spent almost 10 years working for a Swiss bank in Switzerland (as a contractor); I needed a Swiss bank account for my day to day existence. Naturally (?) I opened an account with another Swiss bank to process my salary (I didn't trust Swiss banking secrecy at that time, and imagined that half of the office would become intimately aware of my finances were I to bank with the bank I worked at).
Now, a while down the track, my relationship with my Swiss bank account providor has been gradually detiorating (maybe I'm not rich enough?).
A couple of years or so ago they sent me some forms for 'my financial advisor' to fill in to certify my wealth as being above some specified amount (maybe 2.5m USD). Without this documentation my account would become restricted, losing certain privileges such as a credit card.
Unfortunately I didn't have a financial advisor or enough money. I had to forfeit my credit card (that I was paying CHF 100 a year for), and was no longer allowed to buy equities through my account (I wasn't an avid share trader, I held shares in a couple of blue chips to keep my account above the minimum balance requirements, hoping I might beat the 0.001% interest offered on the current account.
As my finances have dwindled I've sold some of the shares, unfortunately at a small profit. My Swiss bankers expect me to provide them with documents from certified professionals assuring that these profits have been declared to the relevant taxation authority. Obviously the cost of producing said documentation would exceed the small profit, so, due to non compliance my account is now scheduled for closure.
All the way through this process I've been getting signals from the bank that everything would be much smoother if I could just prove that I had enough money for their documentary requirements.
Maybe they really would love me long time if I had that few million they're drooling over.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
