How to open a Swiss bank account

August 11, 2008 D. H. McKee

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Apparently, it’s pretty easy to do, and doesn’t require a million dollars. The basic Swiss account can be obtained through a broker, with a minimum balance of $10,000. And you get the benefit of being either tax free, or mostly anonymous (interest earned by Swiss companies are subject to a 35% withholding tax, but you can get most of it back if you can prove you’re not from Switzerland).
The other big benefit is that you are generally exempt from small crimes such as tax evasion:

Bank secrecy is not lifted for tax evasion. This is because failure to report income or assets is not considered a crime in Switzerland. As such, neither the Swiss government, nor any other government, can obtain information about your bank account. They must first convince a Swiss judge that you have committed a serious crime punishable by the Swiss Penal Code.

… or divorce/inheritance issues:

Bank secrecy will not be lifted for private matters such as inheritance or divorce if you have kept your banking information strictly confidential. It is up to plaintiffs to prove that the account exists if they wish the judge to pursue the case. In this respect, the numbered account provides the maximum degree of confidentiality.

Classic Swiss Bank Account
Unfortunately, this offer isn’t open to residents of the USA. Nor is it available for Afghanistan, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Congo-Brazzaville, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liberia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uzbekistan, or Zimbabwe. Americans can still get Swiss Cantonal Bank accounts or the coveted Swiss numbered accounts.

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As a guy who occasionally curates art shows and wrangles artists together, I often have to edit and post artist bios, profile pictures, and artwork images. This can be a problem, since many artists and writers aren’t used to selling themselves. Artists rarely know how to present their art for display in a brochure, and writers aren’t used to writing about themselves.

Writers often treat the bio like it’s an interview or something. Maybe like they’re having a conversation with you, the reader. While it may work sometimes, the most common way to write a bio is to write in the 3rd person.

I’m like those writers, and I’m talking to you directly, unlike the common way to do a bio. You should see my About page. It makes sense to me, since this is a bit which describes my blog’s website. When I get famous enough that I don’t have time to talk to you, I’ll have an intern write everything in 3rd person. Until then, you get to talk to me.

Like blogs of old, this one is a personal document of the comings and goings of me. Articles I’ve written, links I’ve posted, videos I liked, etc. Here, a first-person perspective is the way to go, at least for now. So, this is my site. I’m D. H. McKee, a sometimes artist, sometimes writer. Mostly just a guy on the internet.