In recent years, new privacy laws introduced by the Swiss government had forced Swiss banks to cooperate with both their own and other countries’ tax authorities, and reveal a previously undreamed-of amount of information about their clients’ transactions. Inevitably, many banks had suffered, losing clients to the still secrecy-enshrouded environs of Lichtenstein, Andorra, or other countries willing to sacrifice respectability to serve their deep-pocketed depositors.Difault-Légère had suffered less than most Swiss banks, for though it had not openly resisted the new measures, it had done its best to ignore them. Behind its imposing nineteenth-century façade on Zurich’s fabled Banhoffstrasse, the banking hall continued to operate much as it had always done, safeguarding the interests of its rich international clientele. The bank’s attitude was clear: governments and their regulations come and go, but Difault-Légère and the wealth of its private clients were permanencies.With this in mind, Otto Bech climbed the short flight of steps to the bank’s grand entrance, feeling wary.
What do You think about Liz Carlyle - 07 - The Geneva Trap?
