Scandal and pressure on its banks have rocked a reputation for stability but many are bullish

To foreigners, Switzerland often means Alpine mountains, cows, chocolates — and tax evasion.
This is especially true in the US. Since the dark side of Switzerland’s bank secrecy laws was
first exposed by US authorities in 2007, 85 Swiss banks have paid a total of $5.5bn in
penalties and compensation related to claims they helped American clients sidestep taxcollectors.

But that did not stop Reyl, a small Swiss bank based in Geneva, opening a branch in Dallas,
Texas, this month. “We thought there was a contrarian opportunity,” says François Reyl, the
chief executive whose father founded the bank in 1988. Clients these days are fully taxcompliant,
he says, and are coming to him for help in safely diversifying dollar assets — and
for sophisticated Swiss service.

“There is a definite Swiss-ness in our approach,” says Mr Reyl cheerfully.
His Texas experiment is an example of how Swiss businesses and entrepreneurs are
seeking to reinvent themselves after a series of crises and scandals that have threatened the
country’s reputation. Switzerland’s 8m citizens are the wealthiest in the world and, although
not in the EU, the country hosts some of Europe’s biggest companies including Nestlé,Novartis and Zurich Insurance.