Launched by Geneva trade union
activist Paolo Gilardi, the petition claims Greek tax evasion amounts to 550
billion euros -- 2.5 times the crisis-hit country's GDP -- and "part of
this money is sitting in Swiss banks."
In a call to the Federal
Council, the petition notes that Switzerland recently sent thousands of names
of United States citizens with Swiss UBS bank accounts to the Washington tax
authorities as part of a US probe into tax dodging.
"Today, we ask you
solemnly to do the same to help save the Greek people," the petition
reads, adding that the money in Swiss banks was responsible for "making
the Greek people even hungrier."
The development comes as
negotiations continue between Switzerland and Greece for an agreement on the
issue of tax evasion.
As part of the deal, Greek
individuals with non-declared funds in Switzerland would maintain their
anonymity, but their assets would be taxed by Bern, which in turn would
transfer the revenues to Athens.
But Greece turned its back on
the deal on October 1 after getting hold of a CD containing names of Greek
nationals with undeclared Swiss bank accounts, according to a statement from
the Greek Finance ministry.
Greece has not released any
estimation of undeclared Greek funds placed in Switzerland, although Greek
media estimates vary wildly, from two to 200 billion euros ($258 billion).
In 2011, the Swiss National
Bank estimated that Greek nationals placed assets worth 3.5 million euros in
Switzerland's banks, an increase of 1.2 billion euros from 2010, according to
news agency ATS.
Ahead of the present initiative
-- the first step towards it becoming law in Switzerland -- the Association of
Swiss Bankers (ASB) rejected a call from Greece to release details of Swiss
bank accounts held by Greek nationals.
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