After being attacked from several financial authorities across the EU, Austria’s financial minister, Maria Fekter announced earlier Friday April 12 that the country was sticking with bank secrecy.
Dismissing scrutiny from fellow EU members, Fekter remained vigilant when she explained exposing account holder information was an invasion of privacy and Austria was unwilling to comply. In an attempt to deflect pressure, she attacked a group of the top economies for their failure in investigating money laundering in other regions such as the Cayman Islands, Virgin Islands and US states Delaware and Nevada, reports Fox Business.
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Fekter’s stance on Austria’s banking secrecy position will only further isolate the country, as several other EU members — including Luxembourg — have agreed to cooperate with increasing transparency with accounts. Financial ministers from Germany, Britain, Spain, Italy and France have all illustrated their future visions and cooperation to move forward with enforcing the tax evasions. Tensions continue to rise as French budget minister Bernard Cazeneuve warned that France may black Austria if they continue to challenge the request.
During an interview on a French radio, Cazeneuve commented, “It is not normal that countries like Austria for instance don’t share information on bank accounts held there by European Union citizens. If these countries do not cooperate, if there is not a convention covering an information exchange that allows for total transparency within the EU, these countries expose themselves to the risk of appearing on the list of noncooperative states,” reports Fox Business.
It is unclear if Austria’s stance will remain admissible, but it does seem it will not be an easy fight as Austria now stands as the last country in the EU refusing to lift bank secrecy.
Fekter told Austrian Daily Die Presse, “Austria is in favor of negotiations with the U.S. and the EU, but these negotiations can’t be one way streets,” reports Fox Business.
Read the full story at Fox Business article here and the Reuters article here.
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