News In Brief

Swiss vote to maintain tradition of bank secrecy

Swiss voters Sunday decisively rejected a proposal to open up the country's traditional banking secrecy. Nearly complete returns from the national referendum showed the proposal, condemned by opponents as striking at the vital nerve of banking and the whole economy, being defeated by a margin of three to one.

The measure was proposed by the Socialist Party in 1977 with the aim of fighting tax evasion and ending Switzerland's attraction as a haven for the flight of capital from the Third World.