Switzerland is the place that has traditionally stood above all the rest in its reputation for financial stability.
Why? Because the currency was well-managed, the banking system was sound, and the country had a long tradition of treating capital well.
Over the last few years, however, these advantages have collapsed.
Switzerland has voluntarily surrendered banking privacy, and the many Swiss banks are now hemorrhaging cash. Even worse, the Swiss government destroyed its reputation for respecting capital when they pegged the Swiss franc to the euro in 2011 to arrest the franc’s rapid rise.
Why this place is becoming the new Switzerland.
But people would need to believe that Julia Gillard won’t decide to pull a Cyprus with their bank accounts.
Of course.
Because the Australian dollar isn’t worth at least 40 percent more than it should be (pumped up by Japanese investors desperate for yield and a hedge for when Japan finally defaults on its debt).
The place hasn’t been transmogrified long since into a raw material warehouse for China and a dumping ground for Asia’s riffraff.
Australia hasn’t run a current account deficit for all of our lifetimes, leaving her at the mercy of banksters able to call in her overdrafts at a moment’s notice.
The bubble that is the Australian housing market hasn’t been pumped up by the Chinese in a fashion that would make Vancouverites gape in disbelief.
Australia isn’t a place where Lebanese scumbags can raise Cain on the beaches with impunity, but a loyal subject of the Queen of Australia can’t even own a rabbit in much of the country, never mind a gun.
And, of course, Australian banks won’t stab depositors from the Christian world in the back the moment it becomes an inconvenience to give them their money before their creditors in Beijing, whose nuclear arsenal Australia is well in range of.
I’m sure you meant no harm to any here, Rob, but I was not born yesterday.
Any wealth you cannot afford to lose is safe in only one place—in gold and silver coin and bullion, placed in a safe with a lock to which only you have the combination (even a spouse can be turned) and whose whereabouts only you know. Anybody who tells you otherwise is either a fool or a thief. When in doubt, assume the latter.
“Switzerland has voluntarily surrendered banking privacy”.
That was the death knell for the Swiss Banks. Despots, scoundrels and thieves can not tolerate light cast on their gains. As Dick Slater pointed out, if it isn’t in your secure possession , it’s vulnerable. At least the Swiss have tourism to compensate for the run on their banks that will be inevitable.
I agree with Dick’s comment. If I were looking for a safe haven, I’d consider Singapore long before Australia.
That was the stupidest move they could have done. Even the Germans didn’t invade them because of their banks. Now they are sieves for the IRS & other bodies poaching taxes.
Hummmmm. That was written 3 years ago. He and other are absolutely right about the dumb move of giving up privacy. But how is OZ faring now under Jullian “Aussie eco-cultists are so easy” Gillard,now with her never gonna happen(heh) carbon tax?
Stick with Singapore,Bermuda,Aruba,Grand Caymen,etc. Oh. He is right about foreign property. Just bought a lovely 3 bedroom,2 bath,on the golf course/beach,1800 sqft place in Cocotal(DR) for a whooping 95G,s…. Canadian.Winters there,summer here,until the commie in drag gets in,then buhbye Canuckistan.
I shared the article with a Swiss friend a few hours ago. He said that most of it is complete B.S.
Perhaps he’s a little behind on the latest news.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/Fresh_US_tax_cheat_charges_hit_banking_sector.html?cid=35533854
I’d wait for Abbott to be elected.
And Oz, unfortunately, is running a current account deficit. And that deficit will get bigger as a) the silly carbon tax fails to raise much revenue, b) the silly carbon tax reduces competitiveness, c) the air goes out of the resources boom as China slows.