Anthony Hilton: Switzerland is not the haven it is thought to be
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Last Sunday at a speaking engagement down in Bath I sat next to a Swiss guy who wrote trading algorithms and software for Geneva based hedge funds. It was that sort of dinner – a place where the mathematically gifted fund managers exchange ideas and theories with academics on how to predict market movements.
All that is way over my head, but my Geneva man was fascinating on two fronts. Forget all that nonsense about British hedge funds decamping to Switzerland to avoid tighter regulation, he said. Very few have made the move, and some who did are looking to come back.
But where Geneva had scored was in commodity trading. He claimed it now accounts for more than half of all the oil traded in the world. London seems to have lost the plot on that one.
Forget too the idea that being outside the EU helps a country escape the regulatory clutch of Brussels. Leaving the EU and its regulatory burden behind may be the central plank of UKIP's policy for the UK, and that party is fond of saying that Norway and Switzerland flourish mightily on the outside.
But that is not how it looks from Geneva. The EU has made it quite plain it expects the financial sector in Switzerland to apply its rules if it wants to continue to do business with the other countries in Europe.
The Swiss have no choice but to comply, any more than we would.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments