State Secretary Jörg Gasser on working visit to Singapore and Hong Kong
Bern, 14.07.2016 - On 13 and 14 July, the State Secretary for International Financial Matters Jörg Gasser met his counterparts from the finance ministry and representatives of the supervisory authorities in Singapore and Hong Kong. The talks focused on the global financial market environment and cooperation on bilateral and multilateral tax and financial issues. The optimum framework conditions for supporting innovation in the financial sector and the importance of a level playing field when implementing international standards in the area of taxation were also discussed.
In Singapore, Jörg Gasser met his counterpart Ms TAN Ching Yee to deliberate on current financial and tax issues. The delegations dealt not only with international efforts to further develop and implement global standards in these areas but also with questions to do with bilateral cooperation and financial market policy. The need for competitive regulation which promotes innovation and the prerequisites for the development of a financial technology (fintech) sector were also discussed. The importance of a level playing field when implementing and introducing international standards in the area of taxation (automatic exchange of information) were also discussed.
During his trip to Asia, Jörg Gasser also met his counterpart in Hong Kong, Professor KC Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury. This meeting also dealt with general financial and tax matters. Switzerland maintains very good relations with the two Asian financial centres and regularly meets with the heads of the financial authorities.
The visit to Asia took place within the framework of the presidential visit by the President of the Swiss Confederation, Johann Schneider-Ammann, from 11 to 13 July 2016 in Singapore.
Address for enquiries
Beat Werder, Head of Communications, State Secretariat for International Financial Matters SIF
Tel. +41 58 469 79 47, beat.werder@sif.admin.ch
Publisher
Federal Department of Finance
https://www.efd.admin.ch/efd/en/home.html
Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
http://www.wbf.admin.ch