More reasons to doubt Switzerland's good faith

From the Treasure Islands site:

Private Eye has another excellent short article on p29 of in this week's edition, complementing my recent Guardian article (and more to come from me quite soon) but with a much better headline: Swiss Swizz. I would love to reproduce it all, but can't, so, first, here's a snippet which shows Private Eye at their understated best:

"The whole process will be audited by the Swiss tax authority, which, claimed Hartnett, “has a pretty fearsome reputation for the way in which it audits Swiss banks”. It is not a reputation that has spread far and wide, and whether Swiss tax inspectors will be so keen on chasing money on behalf of a foreign country is also uncertain, to say the least."

But now here's a real killer.

"Under an existing agreement between the UK and Switzerland that provides for tax details to be shared, the Eye has discovered under FoI [Freedom of Information] laws, Switzerland has not provided a single piece of information off its own bat in seven years (even Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have been more forthcoming)."

Another shocker. These kinds of agreements are supposed to be the backbone of the international transparency system. Which just goes to illustrate how ineffective it all is.

P.S. the Private Eye article doesn't seem to be online, though it is worth reading if you can find it. Their earlier one is also a good 'un.