The Swiss Federal Department of Finance has announced that the finance ministers of Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland will meet on 8 March in Luxembourg to discuss the threats against so-called tax havens, as well as their approach to the impending Group of 20 industrial nations’ summit to be held in London on 2 April.

It is unclear what these countries can do in practice to influence decisions of a grouping as powerful as the G20.

However, a question that immediately arises is why have not Belgium and Liechtenstein, both of whom also have banking secrecy laws, also been invited to the March meeting?

One un-named source quoted in the Geneva newspaper le Temps said, “I have deduced that Brussels and Vaduz are not considered, for opposite reasons, to be reliable allies.” Quite what that means is anyone’s guess.

As a guide to Liechtenstein’s thinking on client confidentiality, the tiny state is attempting to get itself removed from a tax haven blacklist compiled by the Paris-headquartered Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Last month, the state's prime minister-designate, Klaus Tschuetscher, was reported saying that it is “necessary to get away from the image of an uncooperative tax haven”. He said Liechtenstein needs more transparency to ensure it remains an attractive financial centre.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Swiss ambassador to Washington, Urs Ziswiler, has declined an invitation to participate in the US Senate hearing on the conflict between UBS and the US Internal Revenue Service.

“The American authorities continue to threaten the bank with unilateral measures. These measures would not be in the interests of the two countries. In these circumstances, the Federal Council believes that it is not appropriate to send a representative,” the ambassador said.