Top staffers at Credit Suisse and Julius Baer say they have no fears. Senior executives at Swiss banks Credit Suisse and Julius Baer say they won't have troubles with U.S. authorities like those encountered by their rival UBS, according to a report by the Financial Times.

"I don't want to say we're relaxed but we're prepared," Julius Baer's CEO Boris Collardi told the British newspaper. "There may be some requests for information [from U.S. authorities] but I don't think we face the risk of another 'John Doe' summons."

Clear rules

In the "John Doe" case Collardi alludes to, the Swiss government 10 days ago agreed to require UBS to make available to U.S. authorities information on more than 4,400 Swiss-based accounts held by individuals subject to U.S. taxation. This development has been widely interpreted as a blow to the prestige of Swiss banking and its vaunted secrecy. And it could be costly for Zurich-based UBS in the on-going U.S. investigation of its role in helping U.S. citizens and resident aliens evade taxes. Early this year, UBS agreed to pay a fine of $780 million for helping a few hundred individuals hide money from the U.S. tax man.

But Credit Suisse won't suffer similarly, according to its private-banking chief Walter Berchtold. "We took measures a long time ago and established clear rules," he told the FT. "From that point of view, I'm very comfortable." -FWR

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