Julius Baer Group chairman Raymond Baer rebuts criticism of Swiss private banking, saying clients of the banks in the Alpine state should not be treated as potential criminals.

Julius Baer chairman Raymond Baer has hit out at criticism of Swiss private banking, saying clients of the banks in the Alpine state should not be treated as potential criminals, responding to mounting pressure on the country’s bank secrecy laws.

"In recent years, virtually no new untaxed European money has flowed into Switzerland," Baer says in a speech to shareholders, according to Dow Jones, citing the text of prepared remarks.

"Swiss bank-client confidentiality, as we have known it, does not exist any longer," Baer said. He also urges European Union member states to “not slam doors on those who are seeking a path to full tax compliance”.

In recent weeks, the governments of Germany and UK have bought client data stolen from Swiss private banks, raising concerns that some countries are brushing aside basic principles of law in their hunt for revenues. Meanwhile,  Credit Suisse has severely restricted travel to Germany by private bankers working for clients with accounts in Switzerland, due to fears that such staff could be detained by the authorities across the border.

Historic bank secrecy laws have been breached by the agreement, reached between the Swiss and US governments last year, that UBS should transfer up to 4,450 client details to the US as part of a civil case in which UBS was accused of helping wealthy US citizens to dodge taxes. However, this data transfer has been potentially derailed by a Swiss court ruling saying that such breaches of client confidentiality are illegal.

The news agency’s report said Baer warned that Europe faces outflows of funds if client identity can no longer be treated confidentially.

"If the identities of the account holders must be disclosed to the governments, then Europe will run the risk of large amounts of money flowing to Asia and of tax revenues thus definitively being lost," Baer will say.

Meanwhile, in his remarks to the shareholder gathering, Julius Baer's chief executive Boris Collardi will refer to Asia as the bank's second home-market, after Switzerland.