Swiss Bank Accounts - Opening An Account is Easier than You Think

Swiss bank accounts are not just for celebrities, millionaires, drug lords, spies or government officials trying to hide their fortunes. Today, they are available to more people than ever before.

Note from Rene

I hope this information is useful for you. This page is not advice, just the results of my research. Please do not base any decisions upon this -- financial advice is not my profession. If desire solid, professional advice, Contact Me and I will respond to you as soon as possible.


Most of us have a false impression about what Swiss bank accounts are and how they work.

We may even have an unrealistic view of what it really means to have Swiss Bank Accounts because we read fiction books or saw thriller movies.
You may have heard about so-called "anonymous" accounts. In reality, there is no such thing as an "anonymous" account in Switzerland.

Swiss law states clearly that the bank must know who you are. Therefore, anonymous accounts at Swiss banks are usually in the imagination of some fiction writers!

You my have also heard of "numbered" accounts. The procedure for opening a "numbered" account is really the same as for any other type of account and they are certainly not anonymous! Swiss bank accounts do not confer anonymity and that is the same in every other jurisdiction in the world. At least two bank employees know who you are - the director and the manager and maybe a few other high-level executives.

Therefore, having a numbered account means you do business within the bank under a code-number and not under your own name. However, numbered Swiss Bank Accounts are usually not as easy to open.

Open your bank account in person

Swiss banks prefer customers to open accounts in person, but they also work with good brokers. They must verify your identity as well as establish the identity of the beneficial owner.

The initial deposit is quite high too and a minimum of $200,000 US to $2,5 million US. The annual service charge for a deposit of $200,000 is about 600 Swiss francs ($ about 500) per year or more, whereas for any other account, you pay nothing.

High net worth individuals deposit millions into numbered accounts. That is why Swiss banks want to establish a personal relationship with the customer. They prefer you face-to-face for an initial discussion. Therefore the motto from all Swiss banks is - "Know your client".

The Swiss anti-money-laundering law requires you to prove where your money is coming from. The banker wants to see with whom he is doing business with and requires many certified documents. Besides authenticated copies of your valid passport, he may also ask you for documentation that can prove the origins of your funds. This could be a statement of a foreign bank, a receipt from the sale of securities or a house sale.

The relationship with a Swiss bank is compared to the confidentiality between a doctor and his patient. The law in Switzerland forbids bankers to disclose the existence of your account. S/he also can't give any other information about your account without your consent. Should a banker violate a client’s privacy, s/he faces at least six months in prison and a fine of up to 50,000 Swiss Francs.

If in the United States an attorney or your doctor violates your confidence, you have no choice than begin legal action. In Switzerland on the hand, if a banker divulges information about a bank account without permission, a Swiss public attorney starts an immediate prosecution.

There must be a substantial foreign criminal allegation against you in order to sidestep the Swiss privacy law before one can gain access to your account information. These exceptions to the privacy rule are criminal activities such as organized crime, drug trafficking, and insider trading. Tax evasion for example is considered a misdemeanor in Switzerland, but not a crime.

Do not walk into wrong bank to open your account

Opening up an account in your name means that your name appears on statements and in the bank's internal documents, which is quite easy to do. You can go to any "retail" bank to do it and it might even make sense to get such an account if you work somewhere in a corporate office in Europe.

However, if you were a regular employee and not a resident of Switzerland making less than a six-figure income a year, it would not make any sense. Let us say you wanted to open a Swiss account with Euros 10,000 or $10,000 US. You could do it on your next trip to Switzerland and open it in person at any "retail" bank. As long as you are at least 18 years old, there are not a lot of restrictions.

Retail banking is your traditional mass-market banking system that we all know. The banks offer savings, checking, mortgages, personal loans and other types of accounts. Of course, many retail banks also offer investment services, but certainly not on the level and personal attention that a private bank can offer you.

Private banking on the other hand refers to services provided by banks to private individuals. The customers at a private bank receive a much more personal level of service than in mass-market retail banking. Many clients all over the world have used Swiss Wealth Management system.

This exclusive service is reserved for those high Net worth individuals with assets over 1 million Swiss francs ($ 845,000 US. However, Swiss banks that accepted deposits as low as $50,000 are not unheard of these days. The private banking departments of Credit Swiss and UBS will probably not open their doors to someone with less than $200,000 to invest.

I personably am not a fan of either of the two above-mentioned banks. That is just my personal opinion. However, there are a few mid-sized private Swiss banks at have an excellent reputation to do business. The bank you choose to deal with depends on what type of investments you want to make and of course on the type of Swiss bank accounts.

To keep your privacy of your account, you should not choose a bank that has a branch in your country. The law will apply in the countries in which the bank branch is located and not where the corporate bank office is located. For this reason, a Swiss bank branch in United States or Canada has the same privacy capabilities than a regular U.S. or Canadian bank does. That means that you need to report to the IRS or Revenue Canada.

Swiss bank accounts can hold all major currencies such as the US dollars, Euros, or other currencies and of course the Swiss Francs. The interest rates you earn on your money depend on the type of account you choose as well as the going interest rates and market conditions.

You are not earning a lot of interest if you maintain your account in Swiss Francs. In addition, you will have to pay the Swiss withholding tax. That is the reason why most account holders that do not live in Switzerland have their Swiss bank accounts in other major currencies. Swiss managed accounts usually show much better long-term returns than standard interest bearing accounts. Usually you get an interest in the 8 - 16% range estimated based on historical trends.

This of course is not a guarantee. If you need some professional advice, please do not consider my thoughts on this page to be that. If you are looking for professional advice, please Contact Me.

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