Few countries embody peace and prosperity the way that Switzerland does.
Its long-standing neutral status has given the country the political stability to become one of the world’s wealthiest countries where banking is a key industry.
One of the major attractions that Switzerland has for high-net-worth foreign individuals: the lump sum taxation (Pauschalbesteuerung/forfait). This regime offers them the possibility to be taxed on their income and wealth on the basis of a fixed annual lump sum without the obligation to report their actual worldwide income or wealth, unless treaty relief under a double-tax treaty is applied in Switzerland on a voluntary basis.
Switzerland is not just an interesting base for individuals, however. Our specialised services cover structured finance products, escrow services, shariah compliant trust services, financial governance and real estate solutions. Intertrust Switzerland is organised to serve you in the most efficient way possible – not only by being geographically close to the financial centres of Geneva and Zurich, but also by our client dedication, our geographical focus and our specialised solutions.
Geography |
Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy - 47 00 N, 8 00 E |
Capital |
Bern |
Time zone |
UTC+1 |
Population |
7,604,467 (July 2009 est.) |
Nationality |
Noun: Swiss (singular and plural) Adjective: Swiss |
Languages |
German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch (official) 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census)
Note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national and official languages |
Government type |
Formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic |
Legal system |
Civil law system influenced by customary law; judicial review of legislative acts, except with respect to federal decrees of general obligatory character; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
Economy overview |
Switzerland is a peaceful, prosperous, and stable modern market economy with low unemployment, a highly skilled labour force, and a per capita GDP among the highest in the world. Switzerland's economy benefits from a highly developed service sector led by financial services and a manufacturing industry that specializes in high-technology, knowledge-based production. The Swiss in recent years have brought their economic practices largely into conformity with the EU's to enhance their international competitiveness, but some trade protectionism remains, particularly for its small agricultural sector. Switzerland remains a safe haven for investors, because it has maintained a degree of bank secrecy and has kept up the franc's long-term external value. The global financial crisis and resulting economic downturn could, however, put Switzerland in a recession in 2009, particularly as global export demand stalls. Switzerland's largest banks suffered significant losses in 2008 and the country's largest bank accepted a government rescue deal in late 2008. The Swiss National Bank, beginning in October 2008, cut interest rates on several consecutive occasions, effectively instituting a zero-rate policy in a bid to boost the economy. |
Currency |
Swiss franc (CHF) |
Intertrust Switzerland has received the SAS-70 type l statement for all processes within the entire local organization. Intertrust is the first trust & corporate services organization in Switzerland to receive this statement.
A SAS-70 report describes the business processes at a given moment. An external auditor checks if the taken measures are sufficient to actualize the management objectives.
“We firmly believe in and are committed to controlling our processes. That is why Intertrust Switzerland is taking steps to verify and improve our internal processes. We are now able to give our clients the possibility to (partly) discharge their responsibilities by preparing a report according to SAS-70 standards.”