Introduction

I did not choose the subject of this chapter just for its current relevance, but in an attempt to reflect a lesson which I learned from Detlev Vagts. I remember, among other lessons, a specific one in the context of the dispute regarding accounts of Holocaust victims held with Swiss banks. He argued on pertinent issues of international law for the banks and showed how a jurist can be truly independent from all the semi-truths typically associated with that kind of case. Detlev Vagts can draw from his roots a rarely found ability to ‘think international’. But there is more to it: he personifies the power of pure juridical argument over politics.

At the time of writing of this chapter addressing the subject of Swiss banks, the case pursued by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), which presently is Switzerland's biggest bank, is in the process of settlement. But there is also pressure from the EU and the OECD, and litigation may continue in the United States. I will not describe all the ramifications of the UBS litigation, which of course are manifold. Instead, I will attempt to offer a bird's-eye view. I am confident that my observations will retain some of their relevance after the specific cases have been settled in one way or another.