Rudolf Elmer is a Swiss private banker, whistleblower, and activist. He worked as a banker at Julius Bär from the 1980s to his dismissal in 2002. At this time, he was head of the bank's Caribbean operations for eight years. In 2005 he was arrested by Zürich authorities and held for 30 days as Swiss authorities alleged he unsuccessfully attempted to disclose client information.
Rudolf Elmer on 5 June 2021 in Geneva at the inauguration of the sculpture
Elmer worked in Julius Bär's Zürich offices until he was fired for stealing documents in 2002.
Elmer faced his first trial at the Zurich District Court.
Elmer alleged that Julius Bär noted activities done in Switzerland as if they were done in the Cayman Islands.
Banking in Switzerland dates to the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland. The country has a long history of banking secrecy and client confidentiality reaching back to the early 1700s. Starting as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934 with the passage of a landmark federal law, the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks. These laws, which were used to protect assets of persons being persecuted by Nazi authorities, have also been used by people and institutions seeking to illegally evade taxes, hide assets, or generally commit financial crime.
The Mont Cervin Palace in Zermatt. A hub of tourism, many private banks service the city and maintain underground bunkers and storage facilities for gold at the foothills of the Swiss Alps.
Switzerland's mountainous terrain helps to store gold in underground bunkers.
International pressure to roll back banking secrecy is seen as an attack on Swiss culture and values. The Swiss parliament expressed an interest in adopting banking secrecy into their constitution in 2017.
Worldwide headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel