COLUMNISTS Barack Obama speaks about tax havens – and Switzerland shivers. The days when presidential homilies about more equitable income distribution could be dismissed as moralising in the world’s favourite centre for offshore assets are long over.
Mr Obama’s remarks this week could affect the Swiss in two ways: cracking down on corporate tax ruses may harm Switzerland’s attractiveness as a regional base for US multinationals, such as Philip Morris, General Motors and Dow Chemical, long present there.
