1 Since the early 1930s, Swiss banks had prided themselves on their system of banking secrecy and numbered accounts. Over the years, they had successfully withstood every challenge to this system by their own government who, in turn, had been frequently urged by foreign governments to reveal information about the financial affairs of certain account holders. The result of this policy of secrecy was that a kind of mystique had grown up around Swiss banking. There was a widely-held belief that Switzerland was irresistible to wealthy foreigners, mainly because of its numbered accounts and bankers' reluctance to ask awkward questions of depositors. Contributing to the mystique was the view, carefully propagated by the banks themselves, that if this secrecy was ever given up, foreigners would fall over themselves in the rush to withdraw money, and the Swiss banking system would virtually collapse overnight.
2 To many, therefore, it came like a bolt out of the blue, when, in 1977, the Swiss banks announced they had signed a pact with the Swiss National Bank (the Central Bank). The aim of the agreement was to prevent the improper use of the country's bank secrecy laws, and its effect was to curb severely the system of secrecy.
3 The rules which the banks had agreed to observe made the opening of numbered accounts subject to much closer scrutiny than beforE.The banks would be required, if necessary, to identify the origin of foreign funds going into numbered and other accounts. The idea was to stop such accounts being used for dubious purposes. Also, they agreed not to accept funds resulting from tax evasion or from crimE.
4 The pact represented essentially a tightening up of banking rules. Although the banks agreed to end relations with clients whose identities were unclear or who were performing improper acts, they were still not obliged to inform. on a client to anyone, including the Swiss government. To some extent, therefore, the principle of secrecy had been maintaineD.
Swiss banks took pride in______.
A.the number of their accounts.
B.withholding client information.
C.being mysterious to the outsiders.
D.attracting wealthy foreign clients.