Frequently asked questions
We have summarised some of the questions frequently put to us
and hope that these answers will be of help to you:
Client at Bank Gutenberg AG
A1) How do I become a client at Bank Gutenberg?
We are sincerely committed to providing you with the highest
standard of service. We therefore take a lot of time to listen to
you so that we can understand your personal initial position, your
individual needs and your objectives. Please contact us if you
would like to discuss your situation personally with one of our
advisors during a non-binding consultation.
A2) How much capital is required to open an account?
Our clientele consists of external asset managers, entrepreneurs
and affluent private individuals in- and outside of Switzerland.
Our expectation for a new client relationship is a custody account
with assets of at least CHF 250,000 or equivalent. Our experience,
however, has shown that our services are particularly suitable for
clients with investable assets of over CHF 500,000. If you wish to
learn more about our services, please contact us for a non-binding
consultation.
A3) Who can open an account with Bank Gutenberg?
Generally, any adult can open a bank account at Bank Gutenberg
AG. However, we reserve the right to reject clients. For example,
if there is any doubt regarding the origin of the applicant's money
we can refuse to enter into a business relationship. The law
prohibits Swiss Banks to accept money if it is presumed that these
funds originate from a criminal activity.
A4) Can a company open an account with Bank Gutenberg AG?
Yes. Any company can open an account with Bank Gutenberg AG
irrespective of whether the company has its seat locally or abroad.
If the company has its seat in Switzerland, it is identified on the
basis of an excerpt from the Commercial Register. The Bank can call
up this information electronically from the Registrar of Companies.
A copy of the articles of association, deeds of partnership or
equivalent documents must be submitted in those instances where the
company is not entered in the Commercial Register. The same applies
in principle to companies who have their seat abroad. However, if a
company has its seat in a country which does not have a Commercial
Register, an equivalent document must be submitted to prove its
existence. Commercial Register excerpts or equivalent documents may
not be older than 12 months. Older evidence may be submitted
together with an auditor's certificate which may also not be older
than 12 months or with a "Certificate of Good Standing".
There are specific regulations for domiciliary companies. In
terms of Swiss law, domiciliary companies are considered to be
companies which do not trade, manufacture or carry out any other
type of commercial activity in their country of domicile. In
addition to the aforementioned identification documents, these
companies must also issue a statement as to the beneficial owner/s
of their assets.
A5) What questions will I be asked on opening an account and
what documents does Bank Gutenberg require?
Our bank employees will initially ask you all those questions
which are required to comply with the legal provisions governing
due diligence on the part of banks. In this regard, you will be
required to prove your identity. Should you be acting on behalf of
another person when depositing the assets, the identity of the
beneficial owner of the assets also has to be determined. Further,
the bank employee is entitled to ask you to provide information on
the money's origin, the nature of your business activity, your
financial situation and your customary financial transactions.
As already mentioned, we are obliged to check our clients'
identity. Ideally, this should take place during a personal
meeting. In any case, we will request an official identity document
such as, for example, a valid passport or an equivalent official
photo I.D. as identification. In certain circumstances, proof of
the origin of your assets may be requested; such as a sales
contract, vouchers from a foreign bank, proof of a sale of
securities, etc.
A6) How do I inform my current bank that I wish to dissolve my
banking relationship and transfer my credit balance to Bank
Gutenberg?
You will find letter-templates for closing an account under "Downloads". In
any case, please contact us to discuss the details with an advisor.
A7) Which services does Bank Gutenberg offer?
Our range of services for private clients, external asset
managers and institutional clients is very comprehensive. You will
find detailed information under "Services".
A8) Where do I find a fee schedule for Bank Gutenberg AG's
services?
You will find our current fee schedule on this website under Download
centre.
A9) What is Bank Gutenberg AG's legal structure?
Bank Gutenberg AG is a public limited company according to Swiss
law and a subsidiary of Cat Group AG which is listed on the BX
Berne Exchange. Founded as Cat Brokerage by Alfons Niedhart in
1988, today's Cat Group AG is represented in Zurich, Geneva and
Liechtenstein. Each of the company's more than 60 employees has
many years experience in the financial sector.
A10) Is Bank Gutenberg AG financially solid?
Your demand for security is important to us. We only get
involved in matters we actually understand. Our core business is
providing independent financial advice and safe custody for
discerning private clients, professional external asset managers
and institutional clients. Our business and risk policy is
deliberately conservative as the Bank's security is our key
priority. This is why we do not grant business loans, mortgages or
unsecured loans. Our own capital and assets are managed with the
greatest emphasis on safety and security. We offer you the highest
level of security thanks to our own strong equity capital base. Not
only that, we also have considerable liquidity and, with the
exception of refinancing, do not make use of any external financing
for our business activities. Bank Gutenberg is a 100% subsidiary of
Cat Group AG - a company with a solid financial base whose company
history spans more than 20 years. Our employees enjoy a high level
of expertise in the financial sector. As shareholders of the Group
they have a keen personal interest to ensure the company's
sustainable success.
As a Swiss Bank we fall under the Federal Financial Market
Supervisory Authority (FINMA). We also have regular internal and
external audits. Our extremely solid foundation and our commitment
to making our clients' interest our top priority allows you to
enjoy complete peace of mind when conducting your financial
transactions with us. In addition, you may always rely on our Swiss
values which we consider to be of utmost importance: stability,
quality, reliability, discretion and integrity.
A11) Are my deposits secured by a deposit guarantee?
Yes. Just like all banks and securities traders in Switzerland,
Bank Gutenberg AG is obliged to sign the agreement according to the
Swiss Banks' and Securities Dealers' Depositor Protection
Association. Clients' deposits are therefore secured up to the
maximum amount of 100,000 CHF. For example, salary accounts,
savings accounts, Pillar 3a and cash bonds are protected up to this
amount. Securities such as fiduciary investments, bonds, shares,
physical precious metals and investment funds (including ETFs) are
merely held in custody by the bank and therefore do not fall in the
bankrupt's estate in case of a bank insolvency. Additional
information can be found on the website of the Swiss Banks' and Securities Dealers' Depositor
Protection Association.
A12) How can I get a copy of Cat Group AG's annual report?
You can download the PDF Version of annual reports of Cat Group
AG from our website. (insert link on 03/05/02. Financial Reports)
You will find other interesting publications in our Download
centre.
A13) Is Bank Gutenberg AG registered as a "Qualified
Intermediary" for US withholding tax?
In terms of the regulations of 1 January 2001, Bank Gutenberg AG
has the status of a "Qualified Intermediary".
A14) What must I do in the event of the account holder's
death?
Please contact us without delay so that we can discuss the
necessary procedure together.
A15) Where can I certify my passport?
In Switzerland: a passport can be certified at any post office
and municipality or at any consulate, notary or attorney.
In the EU: a passport can be certified at any post office and
municipality or at any consulate, notary or attorney.
Outside of Europe, you may have your passport certified at a
consult, notary or attorney.
A16) What are my trading hours at stock exchanges worldwide
(GMT +1 Zurich):
Daylight savings time (summer time) does not start at the same
time in the USA and Europe. An hour must therefore be added to the
normal time difference between the last Sunday in March and the
first Sunday in April. For example, in this period the US stock
exchange opens at 16:30 (instead of 15:30) and closes at 23:00
(instead of 22:00).
A17) Which securities exchanges do you trade at?
Bank Gutenberg offers you access to all common securities
exchanges and OTC markets. Through the link to electronic trading
systems, Bank Gutenberg is directly connected with the most
important foreign stock exchanges (among others SIX, Euronext,
XETRA, NASDAQ, NYSE, Tokyo, Toronto). Our securities team in Zurich
consists of experienced traders who work discretely and efficiently
for our clients and are familiar with all peculiarities of the most
important stock exchanges worldwide. We offer you a comprehensive
and uncomplicated service for speedy and efficient processing of
globally placed stock exchange orders and capital market
transactions.
A18) What investment universe can Bank Gutenberg offer me?
Bank Gutenberg provides its clients' with a broad investment universe. Our
focus is always on open architecture and a "best-in-class"
approach.
A19) What about the use of iPhone®/iPad® at Bank
Gutenberg?
You will find a demo version of the application here.
Payments
B1) How can I make payments within Switzerland?
Please provide us with the following information for payments
within Switzerland:
- Bank Gutenberg AG's clearing number (BC-No. 08837)
- IBAN of your Bank Gutenberg account
- Details of originator and recipient (last name, first
Name)
- Currency (e.g. CHF, EUR, USD, etc.)
- Amount
B2) How can I make payments from abroad to Switzerland?
Please provide us with the following information for payments
from abroad:
- SWIFT Code / BIC Code of Bank Gutenberg AG (BGUTCHZZXXX)
- IBAN of your Bank Gutenberg account
- Details of originator and recipient (last name, first
Name)
- Currency (e.g. CHF, EUR, USD, etc.)
- Amount
- Correspondent banks
Please also take note of fees and value dates for international
transactions. Our advisors are always available to assist you in
trouble-free handling.
B3) What information is passed on for payments made in foreign
exchange?
We are obliged to pass on the client's name, address and the
account number to the participating banks and system operators
(SWIFT, SIS and SIC).
B4) What is the concept behind the IBAN code?
Since 2006, Swiss banks no longer use their own account numbers
for payments but IBAN numbers to facilitate money transactions
locally and abroad. The IBAN number is made up as follows
(example):
The IBAN number is made up as
follows:
CH 56 0564 0332 0088 8877 3
CH = Country code (2-digits)
56 = Control number (2-digits)
05640 = Bank clearing number (5-digits)
332 0088 8877 3 = Account number (12-digits)
B4) What is SWIFT and what happens to customer information when
making payments?
SWIFT stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication and is used by banks particularly for money
transactions and handling securities transactions. SWIFT is a
Belgian Cooperative Society which standardises the exchange of
messages between financial institutions (e.g. for payment
transactions and securities transactions). SWIFT has extremely high
security standards with regard to data security and uses a secured
network particularly with regard to data transmission. No funds are
exchanged via SWIFT only encrypted messages. What happens to the
information? An encrypted message is sent within the SWIFT network,
checked for its correct structure, conclusively referenced, cached
and inspected for alterations. For security purposes, data is
processed at one computer centre and stored at a second computer
centre (in the USA, the Netherlands and Switzerland). Processing
domestic and cross-border payments are in particular based on the
provisions to combat money laundering and funding of terrorism.
Information on the principal, in particular name, address and
account number or identification number is passed on to the
participating banks and system operators locally and abroad. The
client's date of birth and place of birth may be provided instead
of the address. The disclosure of information is carried out so as
to meet local or international legal and/or regulatory guidelines.
So, for example, cross-border payments will require the transfer of
the principal's information. Equally, the disclosure of information
serves the purpose of faultless transaction processing. Once your
personal information is sent abroad, it is no longer protected by
Swiss law but subject to the provisions of the relevant foreign
legal system. Foreign laws and official orders may, for example,
require that this data is passed on to authorities or other third
parties as was the case following the terrorist attacks on the
World Trade centre in New York in 2001 when the US Treasury
demanded the surrender of data from SWIFT's US computer centre. The
US Treasury undertook towards the EU authorities to comply with
European data protection standards and agreed to corresponding
controls.
Source: Information on disclosure of client data
in payment transactions - SBVg - June 2009
The Swiss financial centre and Swiss banking secrecy
C1) What is bank-client confidentiality and what are its
limits?
General
Bank client confidentiality protects privacy according to the
Constitution and laws of Switzerland. Article 13 of the Federal
Constitution awards every person "the right to receive respect for
his/her private and family life." This includes their financial
income and assets. It does not include any kind of abuse
particularly of a criminal nature. Bank-client confidentiality has
always been waived for prosecution authorities. Here, the bank is
obliged to provide information on their clients to the relevant
authorities. The addition of new crimes to the statute books have
led to new disclosure obligations; from insider trading (1988) to
money laundering (1990). This also applies to foreign prosecuting
authorities via international administrative and judicial
assistance processes. The double taxation agreement between
Switzerland and the US extended mutual administrative assistance -
previously restricted to tax fraud - to also include "tax fraud and
the like" (1997). On 13 March 2009, the Swiss Federal Government
announced that it would adopt the standards of the OECD
(Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and - in
its new negotiations with major financial centres - would in future
also offer mutual administrative assistance even with regard to tax
evasion (Article 26 of the Model Tax Convention OECD).
This is not, however, linked to an automatic exchange of
information, as there are strict conditions on mutual
administrative assistance (e.g. justified suspicion of a tax
offence). For the rest, the bank-client confidentiality remains in
place.
Legal basis
The Swiss banker's professional duty of client confidentiality
has its legal foundation in Article 47 of the Federal Act on Banks
and Savings Banks of 8 November 1934. Here, it is stipulated that
any person acting as member of a banking body, as a bank employee,
agent or liquidator, or as a member of a body or an employee of an
auditing institution, may not pass on [divulge] any information
he/she receives. The same applies to brokers and securities dealers
in terms of Article 43 of the Federal Act on Stock Exchanges and
Securities Trading of 24 March 1995.
Although people usually talk about "banking secrecy", the term
"bank-client confidentiality" is more appropriate as the issue here
is not so much to protect the bank, but rather the client.
Swiss legislation also provides for professional secrecy in
other areas, such as that of doctors or attorneys. This always
concerns the protection of privacy which has its foundation in
Article 13 of the Federal Constitution.
While the desire for privacy may play a role in an investor's
decision to entrust their assets to a Swiss bank, it is not
necessarily the only or most important factor. Switzerland's
political and monetary stability, its excellent banking
infrastructure and the professional know-how of its bankers are
equally important considerations.
Limits
The bank-client confidentiality is not absolute and in
particular does not offer criminals any protection. Banks are
obliged to disclose information regarding their clients for
example:
- in civil proceedings (such as successions or divorces);
- in debt recovery and compulsory execution measures;
- in criminal proceedings (such as money laundering, involvement
in a criminal organisation, theft, tax fraud, blackmail, among
others). If the bank has reason to suspect that the involved
financial assets could originate from a crime, the bank may inform
the authorities without this being considered a breach of
bank-client confidentiality. Where the suspicion is founded, the
bank must inform the Money Laundering Reporting Office.
- for international administrative and judicial assistance (see
below).
Bank-client confidentiality and tax law
The Swiss tax system is based on the principle of
self-declaration by the taxpayer. Information and documents which
clients require for the tax authorities may only be given to
clients and not directly to the tax authorities. The bank is not
entitled to monitor the tax affairs of its clients. Nor, however,
may the bank assist clients to evade taxes by issuing misleading or
incomplete attestations. This is expressly stated in the Due
Diligence Agreement.
"Withholding tax" is an effective means to combat tax evasion.
Most income (interest and dividends) derived from Swiss capital
investments is subject to a 35% withholding tax. The investor (bank
client) may only claim a refund on making a corresponding proper
declaration of earnings. This creates a high level of motivation
for tax honesty. This also applies to creditors resident or
domiciled abroad; whereby double taxation treaties allow for a
partial or full refund of the withholding tax.
A comparable solution exists with the European Union through the
agreement on the taxation of savings income (tax withheld by banks
in favour of the European Union).
The competent authorities handle cases of tax fraud in due
process of law. The bank has an obligation to collaborate, provide
information and disclose. Tax fraud occurs if a taxpayer has used
incorrect or forged attestations for his tax declaration.
In these cases, Switzerland extends international mutual
administrative assistance on the basis of its double taxation
agreements or Bilateral Agreements II between Switzerland and the
European Union as well as providing international judicial
assistance in criminal matters.
In the case of the US, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court
ruled on 5 March 2009 that a case of fraud could also be present
if, due to the circumstances, US tax authorities had no intention
of conducting an investigation and that the taxpayer had
anticipated this. In the case in question, instead of the actual
taxpayer, the bank's client was, in fact, a company controlled by
him; the client had provided incorrect information towards the tax
authorities regarding the controlling relationship.
Finally on 13 March 2009, the Federal Council announced that
mutual administrative assistance would in future also be offered in
individual cases of justified suspicion of tax evasion so as to
correspond with current international standards (Article 26 of OECD
Model Tax Convention). Respective treaties
have been achieved
with several countries.
International judicial assistance in criminal matters
According to the Federal law governing international judicial
assistance in criminal matters of 20 March 1981, Switzerland grants
other countries judicial assistance. This includes freezing assets
and, if necessary, their transfer to the competent foreign
authorities.
International judicial assistance in criminal matters is based
on the principles of dual criminality, the speciality and
proportionality. In terms of the principles of dual criminality,
the Swiss courts only allow so-called coercive measures if the
investigated offence is punishable both by the requesting state as
well as in Switzerland. This applies specifically for the lifting
of bank-client confidentiality. The principle of speciality states
that the requesting state may only use the information received via
the channels of judicial assistance for the criminal proceedings
for which the assistance was provided to him. In the event of a
minor incident or a risk of endangering the interests of uninvolved
third parties, the principle of proportionality conclusively
demands that no coercive measure may be ordered such as lifting the
bank-client confidentiality.
International administrative assistance between supervisory
authorities
FINMA may provide supervisory authorities in foreign countries
with information which is not public knowledge; however, only under
the following statutory conditions:
- The information given by Switzerland may only be used for the
direct supervision of banks or other financial intermediaries. It
is not permitted to pass on information to a tax authority.
- The requesting foreign authority must itself be bound by
official or professional confidentiality and be the intended
recipient of the information. For mutual administrative assistance
provided to stock exchange supervisory, precedence shall be given
to provisions on the public nature of the foreign proceedings.
- The foreign authority may only pass information received from
Switzerland on to another supervisory authority with the prior
approval of FINMA or through the authority granted via a state
treaty. Passing on such information to criminal prosecution
authorities is not permitted in those cases which would otherwise
exclude international mutual administrative assistance in criminal
matters. This restriction is intended to avoid an instance where
mutual administrative assistance serves to bypass the barriers of
judicial assistance. It only applies to mutual administrative
assistance of banks but not to the stock exchange supervisory
authority.
If the information requested from abroad affects specific
clients, any decision made by FINMA can be appealed against before
the Swiss Federal Administrative Court. FINMA and the Federal
Administrative Court must guarantee the affected person's right to
be heard and the right to inspect the records.
Consequences of violating bank-client confidentiality
The wilful or negligent violation of the bank-client
confidentiality is punishable by a prison sentence of up to three
years or a fine (in the event of negligence up to 250,000 CHF). It
also remains punishable after the banking relationship with the
affected client has been terminated and/or the offender is no
longer employed by the bank. This applies similarly to stockbrokers
and securities dealers.
Banking secrecy relates to discretion and confidentiality which
the banks, their organs and employees must safeguard with regard to
information that comes to their attention concerning their clients'
financial and personal matters. Swiss legislation uses a number of
punitive measures to punish the abuse of this obligation to
secrecy.
The bank secrecy is therefore a kind of professional secrecy
that protects financial privacy. Bank Gutenberg AG fully endorses
this principle.
Source: Swiss Banker Association
C2) How does bank-client confidentiality differ between
Switzerland and Singapore?
Source: NZZ article 21 May 2010, page 31 (Author:
Oliver Friedmann, Attorney at Pestalozzi in Zurich)
C3) How do Swiss and American income tax assessments
differ?
Source: NZZ article, 21 May 2010, page 31 (Author:
Marcus Desax, Tax specialist and partner in the legal firm of
Walder Wyss & Partners in Zurich)