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Bank secrecy was codified in Switzerland by the 1934 Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks (Swiss Banking Act of 1934) following a public scandal in France, when MP Fabien Alberty denounced tax evasion by eminent French personalities, including politicians, judges, industrialists, church dignitaries and directors of newspapers, who were hiding their money in Switzerland. He called these men of "a particularly ticklish patriotism", who "probably are unaware that the money they deposit abroad is lent by Switzerland to Germany". The Peugeot brothers and François Coty, of the famous perfume family, were on his list. Since then, Swiss banks have acquired worldwide celebrity due to their numbered bank accounts, which critics such as ATTAC NGO alleged only help legalized tax evasion, money laundering and more generally the underground economy.
As Fabien Alberty, he seems well-known on the English-language internets, sometimes credited with having been Prime Minister. Albertin was briefly secretary for public works in 1940, then voted full powers to Pétain and disappeared down the toilet of history. It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
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