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German visitors slump after banking law changes

Tuesday, 17 January 2023 06:30

Geneva banking quarter

Tourist figures from the Federal Statistics Office show the number of visitors from Germany slumped by a third in 2018 and never recovered.

Many are wondering why?

One theory is the end of banking secrecy. 

One former German tax inspector told the ‘Lucerner Zeitung’ that it was common many Germans would visit their financial adviser in Switzerland and check on their undeclared accounts – and then stay for a few days. 

But under an agreement with the OECD, banking secrecy for tax matters ended in 2018 and banks do swap account information with other countries. 

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