Kicking, no problem to settle down in Switzerland if you´re holding a European Union passport ... in principle, based on a recent mutual agreement between CH and EU. Swiss citizenship is a different matter though. take a look at the Lugano area, Campione d´Italia in particular ... an Italian piece of land 100% surrounded by Swiss territory www.itbankinggroup.com/taxhavens/campione.shtml www.escapeartist.com/library/article3.htm www.henley-partner.com/campione.htm regards wild
my most favorite place in switzerland is in montreux. this is just an hour from here.... http://www.montreux.ch/ it's at the lake geneva in the french speaking part of switzerland. alain
What brokerage do people use to trade from Switzerland? Does anybody use Consors for equity & index options and futures (only Eurex available), and if, how is it?
well... futures traders use american brokers, IB, Refco's, Carl Kliem, and some other german brokers. Regular small investors use Consors, Youtrade, Swissquote, Tradenet, e-sider which concentrade on the SWX, DAX, Nemax, Nyse, nasdaq stocks. Consors is now owned by a bank in Paris... Youtrade is the retail brokerage of CS, Trade-net is the retail broker of KantonalBank (another swiss bank), e-sider is from another kantonal bank, and there are about five other small retail brokers... I personally have an account with Consors, youtrade and UBS for my stock investments. I wouldn't use consors as an intraday broker for futures. I have never tested them with futures.
I'm trading from Switzerland most of the time (US markets exclusively) as I currently live in St. Gallen. As for connectivity, unless you choose to live in a chalet somewhere up in the mountains where you'd have to rely on a satellite uplink ADSL and cable availability is pervasive. And if you get yourself a business level ISP it's no different to trading in the US except for a little bit of added latency inherent in transatlantic backbone links. I don't see why anyone would want to become a Swiss citizen, though. Given that it's not an EU member country it has only disadvantages in my eyes. Personally I'm quite happy with my C permit. Switzerland offers a number of tax advantages but this is countered to some extent by the high price level and the strong currency. Dave
thanks alain, wild & dlincke for the replies. dlincke , what's a C permit? and is the cost of living really more expensive in CH?
A C permit is pretty much the equivalent of a green card. It never expires (unless you give up residency in CH for an extended period of time) and allows you to do pretty much everything (starting your own business etc.) except to vote. A B permit is tied to a specific employment contract and needs to be renewed every couple years. An A permit is for seasonal workers mostly from southern eureopean countries and requires the holders to leave the country for at least three months after each nine month stay if I remember right. The cost of living is definitely high in CH. I used to live in NYC (Manhattan) and my grocery bills here are quite a bit higher. Especially meat prices are beyond any resonable level due to government price guarantees, subsidies and other protectionist measures.
what's involved in obtaining a C permit? edit found it: SWITZERLAND Residence in Switzerland For financially independent individuals, business investors and entrepreneurs it may be possible to become resident in Switzerland. There are generally two ways to establish resident status: a) Through the re-location of businesses from outside Switzerland or the establishment of a new business in Switzerland which will create employ-ment and help the economic development of Switzerland. Depending on the canton and region, tax breaks and government subsidies maybe possible if the business is going to be substantial. Residence permits for the foreign director/owner and his or her family are normally granted without delay. b) If the applicant is over 55 years of age, financially independent and can show close connections to Switzerland. In this case, there is the interesting possibility of negotiating lump-sum taxation instead of the usual taxation on worldwide income. This special taxation regime - as well as the granting of the permit - is negotiated on an individual basis and at the discretion of the authorities. The possibility of lump-sum taxation makes Switzerland one of the most attractive places in the world for wealthy individuals. Residence in the Italian enclave of Campione d'Italia may occasionally also be a viable option to practically establish yourself in Switzerland, but without paying its taxes. The following is an overview of the various types of permits issued to foreigners resident in Switzerland: Annual Residence Permit ("B" permit) The "B" permit is the standard residence permit issued to foreigners during their first years of residence in Switzerland. After 5 or 10 years respectively (depending on bilateral conventions) the "B" permit will be changed into a permanent resident permit ("C" permit). Permanent Residence Permit ("C" permit) The "C" permit is issued after 5 or 10 years (depending on the citizenship of the foreigner and respective bilateral conventions between Switzerland and the foreigner's country of citizenship) to holders of a "B" permit. The "C" permit gives its holder full residence status with the same rights as Swiss citizens except political rights. Seasonal Work Permit("A" permit) With a Seasonal Work Permit, residence is limited to 9 consecutive months within a 12-months period. Border Commuter Work Permit ("L" permit) A Border Commuter Permit is issued to foreign nationals with minimum residence near the Swiss border of 6 months. Swiss Citizenship After 12 years of residence in Switzerland a foreigner with permanent resident status may apply for Swiss citizenship. For children the years spent in Switzerland between the age of 10 and 20 years count double. The conditions for granting citizenship depend primarily on the Canton and the community where the foreigner is resident. Generally, the applicant has to be acquainted with Swiss customs, must be well integrated in the Swiss society and should usually speak one of the national languages fluently. 10 and 20 years count double. The conditions for granting citizenship depend primarily on the Canton and the community where the foreigner is resident. Generally, the applicant has to be acquainted with Swiss customs, must be well integrated in the Swiss society and should usually speak one of the national languages fluently. Switzerland is often perceived as a very expensive country and accessible only to wealthy individuals and large companies. However the overall cost of living and doing business in Switzerland compares very favourably with Germany, France, the Netherlands or the USA. But what matters most is what you get: State-of-the-art transport, telecommunications, and energy supplies cost no more in Switzerland than the price paid elsewhere for traffic congestion and environmental degradation. http://www.escapeartist.com/
Anyone know anything about this place? I found some info about it on escapeartist, it seems like a good option for an independent trader. Apparently all you need to obtain residence is to purchase a property there. Can anyone who has been there tell us what the surrounding area and lifestlye is like? I found this list of properties that gives an idea of cost : http://www.campione-consulting.com/Campione.engl.htm