2008

La lettre 35 - December 2008 - PDF 523 Ko

Thierry Oppikofer, journalist, executive manager of "Tout l'immobilier"

Geneva's citizens love to be told that their "quality of life" is unanimously recognized worldwide. Rather than this slightly hazy concept, which is used as freely as "sustainable development", the term "competitiveness" may be more appropriate; this being the one generally adopted by the experts appointed to weigh up the respective advantages and disadvantages of the leading financial centres. The City of London, for example, commissions an independent agency to conduct a survey, the Global Financial Centres Index, which is published twice a year. Geneva ranks very well in this: taking sixth position behind London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Zurich. Its weakness is infrastructure: housing, transport and amenities. Are we really that bad? And does the answer to all our ills really lie in the regeneration of the hitherto industrial area of la Praille-Acacias-Vernets?

La lettre 34 - May 2008 - PDF 444 Ko

Xavier Oberson, Lawyer and Professor of Law at the Geneva University

The affair of the DVD stolen from the subsidiary of a Liechtenstein bank, then bought by the German secret services for a king's ransom was only the prelude to an orchestrated attack on Switzerland and her banking secrecy in tax matters. The criticism, initially launched by a number of German politicians, was then embraced by others, including the leaders of the Swiss Socialist Party. At the centre of the debate lies the distinction Switzerland makes between tax evasion and tax fraud. We asked a highly regarded expert on the subject – Professor Xavier Oberson, of Geneva University – to examine the consequences if the distinction were to be abolished. He arrives at the conclusion that questioning it would lead to an overall revision of Switzerland's tax system.

La lettre 33 - February 2008 - PDF 627 Ko

Michel Y. Dérobert, Executive Director

It is now nearly ten years sinc Peter Böckli, the lawyer and professor from Basel Expressed his belief that the governing spheres of the business and political worlds were drifting inevitably apart. In particular , he pointed out that Switzerland's lay system (the so-called "système de milice") which holds the country together looked set to crumble under the effects of macrotrends outweighing the people's wishes. So, where do westand today? What can be Done to maintain the cohesion between the business sector and the state? What about the finacial center and its ties with the political environment? These are some of the questions this edition of the "Lettre" will try to answer.