The Greek and Swiss Ministers of Finances Yannis Stournaras and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf met in Athens yesterday to discuss the possibility of taxing the Swiss bank accounts of Greek citizens. Based on comments by Mr. Stournaras though, the propose taxation is highly unlikely, while the Swiss official refused to satisfy the Greek demands.
Mr. Stournaras requested that the Swiss banks cooperate with Greek authorities since “the equal participation of all Greeks in lifting the burden of the crisis”, however Mrs. Widmer-Schlumpf explained that this is not possible.
She further explained that while Switzerland is willing to exchange bank account information with OECD and G20 members from now on, she denied the possibility of extending this to information regarding past transactions.
When asked about the amount of Greek funds in Swiss banks and whether there was a surge of bank transfers in recent times, Mrs. Widmer-Schlumpf diplomatically avoided answering, claiming that as a politician she is not the relevant official to discuss such matters.
