Sandy Sandfort writes:

Your money in a Swiss based bank would be Swiss if that's what you wanted. Almost certainly, you would have additional options for your "unit of accounting."

Though US law might not help you, it is not true to say that "no one can ask the bank for records." You can. The proof that a transaction (such as a deposit) took place, is the digitally signed receipt you get from the bank. It is VERY good proof.

My reading of the situation (Mooney's "Capital Protection" or somesuch--book not handy to me as I write) is that the Swiss-based banks will disclose records under several circumstances, and may be required to under Swiss law. These circumstances included evidence the account involves fraud, embezzlement, theft, etc. As I understand things at this instant, the Swiss don't recognize "tax evasion" in another country as an adequate reason to break bank-customer secrecy, but discussions are underway with the "enforcers" from the U.S., and many analysts predict that Switzerland will capitulate on this point as well. I gather that the Swiss bankers are not to happy with this extension of the "New World Order" into their vaults, as other countries which have not yet been "persuaded" to play ball with the U.S. are taking more of the accounts which otherwise would've gone into Switzerland. (Austria, Liechtenstein, etc., plus places like Isle of Man, Caymans, etc.) The link with crypto is an important one: with the loss of the U.S.S.R. as a superpower, the world is "unipolar" in terms of real superpower force. The U.S. can throw its weight around, encouraging compliance with U.S. polices in most areas. Everything from abortion policy to banking secrecy laws to key escrow. (I'm not saying the U.S. threatens force against, say, Luxembourg or Italy, just that the pressures to go along with the U.S. New World Order are strong. The latest scare tactic is the proliferation of nukes, which I suspect will be the instigator of a global N.E.S.T. commando group. (The Nuclear Emergency Search Team, currently based in Las Vegas, has C-5 cargo planes ready to fly teams of searchers, commandoes, etc., to any place in the U.S. where a nuclear bomb is suspected of being.)) --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."