Parliament deals expat Swiss another banking blow

Postfinance, the banking arm of the state-run Post Office, will not have to offer the same services to the Swiss living abroad as to their compatriots in Switzerland. The parliamentary decision is another blow to Swiss expatriates who have seen banking services from their home country diminish in recent years. The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), which represents more than 750,000 Swiss who live in a variety of countries, said it was “disappointed” by the Senate vote on Wednesday. Since the 2008 financial crisis, and resultant tightening of anti-tax evasion rules, most Swiss banks have either closed the accounts of Swiss citizens living abroad or imposed prohibitively high costs. “Swiss nationals abroad have had difficulties maintaining their banking relations in Switzerland on reasonable terms,” OSA said in a statement. “Our compatriots are increasingly moving abroad for professional reasons and for short periods, which makes it all the more necessary to keep a bank ...