Switzerland has long been the location where U.S. investors keep funds offshore because of strong banking privacy laws. With the Swiss Bank Program and the Department of Justice crackdown on Swiss institutions, however, this is no longer the case.

Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA and Edmond de Rothschild (Lugano) are two financial institutions that are part of Edmond de Rothschild Switzerland (EdR).  These two institutions made a deal with the Department of Justice in December so EdR can avoid criminal prosecution. The institutions were at risk of being charged with helping to facilitate tax evasion, as the banks reportedly aided U.S. accountholders in hiding funds offshore over the course of more than a decade.  EdR Switzerland had 950 U.S. affiliated accounts at one point, with as much as $2.16 billion in assets in these accounts at one time.