A version of this article appeared for the first time in Inside Wealth Newsletter of CNBC with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the investor and consumer with high shuttle. Register to receive future editions, directly in your reception box. According to investors and banks. Swiss banks say they have seen an increase in the interests and business of the Americans with high status opening investment accounts in recent months. “He came in waves,” said Pierre Gabris, CEO of Alpen Partners International, a Swiss financial consulting company. “When (former President Barack Obama) was elected, we saw a big wave. Then Covid was another wave. Now, the prices cause a new wave.” Gabris said different customers have different motivations to open an account. Many want to diversify far from the dollar, which, according to them, will weaken even more under the weight of the American debt arrows. The neutral policy of Switzerland, the stable economy, the strong currency and the reliable legal system are all a draw. Others are motivated by politics and what they consider a decline in the rule of law in the United States under the Trump administration. Others still open Swiss accounts to buy physical gold in Switzerland, which is famous for storage and gold refineries. Gabris said that many are also looking for residence or the second citizenship in Europe and wish to buy a property. “It’s a plan B,” he said. The opening of a Swiss bank account is quite simple, but must comply with strict laws on the disclosure of the United States. Although the main American banks cannot open Swiss accounts for customers, most have reference relationships with a handful of Swiss companies recorded with the SEC and are authorized to accept American investors. Vontobel SFA, which would be the largest Swiss bank recorded with the SEC for American customers, refused to comment. The Swiss private bank Pictet said it had seen a “significant increase” in the requests of customers of its Swiss entity Pictet America Advisors, which is registered with the SEC. Although the opening of a Swiss bank account has decades may have made a trace of elimination of tax evasion, today, it is highly regulated and more widespread, with tax forms and reports. “Many Americans realize that 100% of their portfolio is in US dollars, so they think:” I may have to diversify, “said Gabris.
Swiss flag in Lake Geneva in Geneva, Switzerland.
Athanasios Gioumpasis / Getty Images
A version of this article appeared for the first time in Inside Wealth Newsletter of CNBC with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the investor and consumer with high shuttle. Register To receive future editions, directly in your reception box.
According to investors and banks.
