Bern warns Paris off "fishing" for fraudsters
Switzerland says it will grant France no privileges when it comes to administrative assistance in tax matters.
The finance ministry said on Monday it would stick with the standards of the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation and not allow so-called "fishing expeditions".
It explained that in a request for administrative assistance, the taxable person concerned must be able to be clearly identified and, in the case of banking information, it must also be possible to clearly identify the relevant bank.
Bern was reacting to a certain vagueness in the wording of a double taxation agreement worked out with France in August.
Since Switzerland was put on a so-called "grey list" of tax havens by the OECD earlier this year, it has negotiated double taxation agreements with 14 countries and six of these have been signed.
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