Swiss banking secrecy turns out to have some holes in it after all. The settlement this week in which UBS agreed to pay $780m in penalties and hand over about 250 names to the US government comes after intense pressure from the US authorities. It is a vivid reminder that sustained enforcement action can work in tackling tax havens.
Tax evasion is a crime, and governments are right to pursue those they suspect of committing it. It amounts to stealing from the evader's fellow citizens: they pay more for the public services to which others do not contribute what they should. This is an entirely separate point from the right to engage in legitimate tax competition. A jurisdiction is en-titled to seek to attract businesses and wealthy individuals by setting low tax rates. It is not entitled to help those who live elsewhere to evade the taxes that they owe.
