Swiss bankers bristle over international criticism

The president of the Swiss Bankers Association says it's time other countries stopped criticizing the Alpine nation as a haven for tax evaders. Pierre Mirabaud says Switzerland's decision to adopt international rules on tax cooperation should bring an end to threats to put his country on a blacklist of uncooperative tax havens. Germany, France and Britain have mooted economic sanctions for those countries that fail to cooperate with foreign tax evasion probes. Mirabaud says Switzerland is engaged in "an economic war" and has to defend itself against unfair attacks from abroad. He told reporters in Geneva on Friday that recent accusations against Switzerland are largely motivated by jealousy of its world leading banking industry.