Today’s comment is by Bob Bauman, our Legal Counsel and author of many Sovereign Society bestsellers on the offshore world .
Dear A-Letter Reader,
I am writing to you today from beautiful Zurich, Switzerland, home of the sinister “gnomes of Zurich,” according to Harold Wilson.
In 1956, Wilson, then member of UK’s Labour Party opposition, claimed these “gnomes of Zurich” triggered the speculation that caused the devaluation of the venerable British pound sterling.
It’s a great tribute to the power of Switzerland that the financiers in just one Swiss city could cause the mighty British pound to falter.
After a 10-hour flight from Miami to Switzerland, I am in Zurich once again speaking at The Sovereign Society’s European Advantage Tour. This informative event also allows me the pleasure of seeing old friends with whom I often work at a long distance.
For all its financial clout, Switzerland is a small, landlocked country in the middle of Europe, albeit with a long, distinguished and sometimes controversial history that has made it today’s leading world financial center. At various times “Switzerland” or “Swiss” has been regarded as synonymous with high finance.
The Swiss franc has long been probably the world’s safest haven currency against the storms of currency fluctuations. A private Swiss bank account, the infamous “numbered account,’ in fiction and in film, was said to be the safest place in the world to store treasure or stash loot.
That’s because of the iron-clad 1935 Swiss bank secrecy law. Today Switzerland is still one of the most powerful financial centers in the world, highly important for investment funds, private banking, annuities and insurance, and it is estimated to hold one-third of the world’s private wealth.
Switzerland also consistently ranks high on quality of life indices, including high per capita income. Switzerland also has one of the highest concentrations of computer and Internet usage per capita, highest insurance coverage per person, and high good health care statistics. No wonder that over 3,600 of the world’s wealthiest expatriates call Switzerland home. (It is also one of the world’s finest offshore financial havens in the opinion of The Sovereign Society.)
Switzerland has maintained an independence that is envied and criticized, staying neutral through two World Wars. It became the headquarters of international organizations like the Red Cross, the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as the European headquarters of the United Nations, but it resisted joining the UN until 2002. It is surrounded by members of the European Union, but has refused to join, and with good reasons.
Financial services are one of the major sectors of the economy, contributing about 6% of all jobs. Of Switzerland’s 3.2 million workers, according to government figures, about 190,000 are employed directly in finance. More than half of these – 112,000 – are in banking and another 51,000 are in insurance, with 20,500 being employed in accounting and auditing.
And that’s one of the key reasons why we are here on this European Advantage Tour – to allow our attendees to meet firsthand the professional people who make Switzerland what it is – the bankers, investment advisors, fund managers, insurance experts and attorneys.
At the moment, I am working on another new book to be entitled Swiss Money Secrets . Look for it later this year. In the meantime, if you have questions about how Switzerland can assist you in estate planning, investing, banking, asset protection or increasing your financial privacy, I and our Sovereign Society Swiss experts will be pleased to assist you.
That's the way it looks from here,
BOB BAUMAN, Legal Counsel
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tune in tomorrow to learn all about the best ways to protect yourself from passport scam artists, courtesy of our Legal Counsel, Bob Bauman.
