Berlin targets German banks operating in Switzerland

The Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland received calls from nervous fund managers last November, alarmed by a seven-page letter from Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) which had been sent to all German banks with Swiss subsidiaries. BaFin wanted to know how many accounts Swiss subsidiaries were managing for foundations and trusts as well as how many of these foundations were headquartered in Liechtenstein. The letter "was worded unclearly and not coordinated with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority," says Martin Maurer, who runs the Associatio...