<p><span id="result_box" lang="en"><span>The Government of Switzerland on January 17, 2018 reported on public consultations, according to the recommendations of the OECD regarding the re-registration of corporate "bearer shares" for registered shares</span></span>. <span>Thus, the Swiss banking secrecy is almost over and the anonymity of the beneficiaries will finally "lost to history".</span></p><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Swiss banking secrecy is a relative term</strong></em></span></p><p><span id="result_box" lang="en"><span tabindex="-1">If earlier "bearer shares" due to anonymity to the owner were used by private companies in order to hide the real share of beneficiaries in the company, according to the new law this possibility is excluded and they will not be able to evade paying taxes.</span></span></p><p>  <span>Switzerland has long been considered a "retreat of the wealthy" who want to safely keep their assets and hide them from prying eyes, guided by the famous law on bank secrecy.</span> <span>But times have changed, and after many claims from the EU regarding the granting of anonymity, Switzerland agreed to exchange information about its clients' accounts with the tax authorities of foreign countries.</span></p><p>  <span>When Switzerland collided with the claims of the United States in terms of compliance with the requirements of the FATF, the destruction of <span>Swiss banking secrecy</span> foundations began.</span> <span>For the fact that many Swiss banks didn't provide timely information on the available accounts of Americans, they came under US lawsuits and were forced to pay fabulous fines.</span> <span>Several banks as a result left the US financial market, while others didn't want to lose the opportunity to provide services in US dollars, so they fulfill the requirements, but cease to serve US citizens.</span> <span tabindex="-1">On the other hand, Switzerland is under pressure to comply with the EU's "transparency", and is forced to comply with all OECD requirements.</span><span> </span><span tabindex="-1">The pressure was so strong that the Swiss government even began to call on the country's parliament to abolish bank secrecy.</span></p><p>  <span>Switzerland doesn't want to be a pariah in the global financial market and fall under penalty sanctions, and doesn't want to be regarded as "breeding ground for tax evaders"<span>.</span> <span id="result_box" lang="en"><span>Switzerland doesn't want to remain in the "gray list" and cooperates with international organizations, raising the level of "transparency".</span></span></span></p><p>  <span id="result_box" lang="en"><span>So with OECD Switzerland has been working for several years and is guided by all the recommendations proposed by the Global Forum of OECD.</span> <span>The audit of Swiss jurisdiction by OECD experts in terms of country's compliance with international <span>"transparency"</span> standards is currently based on two main stages.</span> <span tabindex="-1">The first stage covers the regulatory framework of a specific country, and the second assesses the level of the state's ability to automatically exchange tax information.</span></span></p><p>  <span id="result_box" lang="en"><span>Since 2015, Switzerland has moved to the second stage and in 2016 OECD is estimated as a <span>"largely relevant"</span> country<span>, according to collegial reports of experts</span><span>.</span></span></span> <span>After signing the Convention with the OECD "On the provision of international administrative assistance in tax matters," from January 1, 2018 Switzerland will exchange tax information.</span> <span>In the second half of 2018, the OECD plans to conduct another study of Switzerland and make a conclusion about its compliance with the <span>"transparency"</span> standards.</span></p><p>  <span id="result_box" lang="en"><span>At the same time, the government hasn't yet passed a law that allows information to be exchanged unilaterally.</span> <span>At the moment, the <span>tax </span>exchange <span>information</span> will be carried out on the basis of <span>countries</span> requests signatories to the Convention and with those countries with which Switzerland has concluded bilateral agreements.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Bearer shares in Switzerland will be registered for a specific person</strong></em></span></p><p>  <span>Among the OECD recommendations was that Switzerland should have appropriate mechanisms to ensure the identification of owners of shares "bearer".</span> <span>Also, the country should guarantee the <span>tax</span> exchange  information with other states on the basis of concluded bilateral interstate agreements.</span></p><p>  <span>Since "bearer shares" don't in themselves define the <span>owners</span> names, the OECD calls on Switzerland to combat tax evasion with persons holding such shares.</span> <span>Although there is no precise calculation of the lost income, OECD experts calculated that due to the use of bearer shares, the tax losses for the last 8 years amounted to about 85 billion US dollars.</span></p><p>  <span id="result_box" lang="en"><span>The new law, which is prepared by the government, obliges the company to keep not only the register of shareholders, but also the beneficiary owners.</span></span> <span>Access to the registry will have law enforcement agencies, as well as financial institutions or intermediaries who need to have confidential data to meet the requirements of due diligence.</span> <span>To those companies that don't wish to enter individual beneficiary data, penalties will be applied to the register.</span><span> </span><span>Public discussion of the new Swiss law will continue until the end of April and somewhere near the end of 2018 the law will be submitted to the parliament.</span></p><p>  <span title="Если анализировать отношение к акциям на предъявителя в других странах, то можно сказать что, например, Великобритания ещё в 2015 году запретила использование акций «на предъявителя».">If we analyze the attitude towards bearer shares in other countries, then we can say that. For example, the United Kingdom, in 2015, banned the use of "bearer shares". </span><span title="Также подобные законы ограничивающие акции «на предъявителя», приняли: Сингапур, США, Бельгия, Гонконг и Австрия.">Also, similar laws restricting the "bearer" shares, have been adopted by: Singapore, the USA, Belgium, Hong Kong and Austria. </span><span title="Согласно последним заявлениям Швейцарии, доля использования акций «на предъявителя» значительно сократилась в последние годы.">According to the latest <span>Switzerland</span> statements, the share of using "bearer shares" has significantly decreased in recent years. </span><span title="На сегодня доля акций «на предъявителя» в Швейцарии от общего количества корпоративного уставного капитала составляет 12%.">To date, the <span>shares </span>proportion in the "bearer" in Switzerland of <span>corporate authorized capital</span> total number is 12%. </span><span title="Для сравнения, в 2014 году этот показатель был 27%.">For comparison, in 2014 this indicator was 27%.</span></p>