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Switzerland has long been known as a world leader in the financial services arena. However, in recent years the Swiss banking industry has come under considerable attack, in particular with regard to money laundering, Holocaust accounts and European Union tax evasion issues. This article examines Swiss banking confidentiality, reports perceptions of a sample of US Americans with regard to banking secrecy, and compares and contrasts perceptions with reality. The results of this study indicate that the general public holds negative perceptions of Swiss banking practices. This article should serve to correct misperceptions of Swiss banking held by the public at large and should be of particular interest to those involved in Swiss banking and the marketing of financial services.

The paper aims to highlight the relationship between money laundering and banking confidentiality in offshore financial centres – particularly following the recent publicity and BBC expose surrounding the criminal use of offshore financial centres. It proposes that there has long been concern over the illegitimate uses of offshore financial centres and that the continuing exploitation of them by criminals is, in part, attributed to the West's use of these financial hotspots. The paper outlines the previous attempts by global regulatory bodies to curb money laundering in offshore financial centres and explores some of the reasons for the continuation of money laundering in offshore financial centres.

The paper was compiled by accessing and analysing primary and secondary data which is publicly available. The analysed data were complemented by the author's new theory of the West's collusion with offshore financial centres as a possible reason for the superficial commitment to anti‐money laundering laws and guidelines.

The findings in the paper conclude that even though there have been global efforts to combat money laundering in offshore financial centres, there is little commitment from the offshore financial centres themselves, and the West, to effectively implement anti‐money laundering regulations.

This paper fulfils a gap in the literature by exploring the relationship between the West and offshore financial centres – more specifically the West's continued use of these centres acts as an incentive to avoid relaxing tight banking confidentiality laws. Further research in this area is needed to assess the full impact of the West's relationship with offshore financial centres.

The principle of offshore financial confidentiality is a controversial issue in offshore law. On the one hand, offshore jurisdictions view confidentiality in financial matters as an essential ingredient in the offshore industry which deserves to be protected. On the other, onshore states are increasingly hostile to confidentiality and have been willing to take drastic measures to undermine it.

Internet banking is a form of self‐service technology, costing millions of dollars, which leading retail banks have made available in the recent past. An understanding of why users are more accepting of Internet banking services should help bank managers implement this self‐service technology. This study identifies eight characteristics which influenced the rate of adoption. Two of these characteristics, namely accessibility and confidentiality, are new to the literature. The results show that adopters of Internet banking perceive the service to be more convenient, less complex, more compatible to them and more suited to those who are PC proficient. Adopters were also found to be more financially innovative. The perceptions that adopters had about social desirability, confidentiality, accessibility and economic benefits were viewed no differently when adopters were compared with non‐adopters.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze banking secrecy laws against the background of the Malaysian anti-money laundering laws. It has been argued that the anti-money laundering law makes greater inroads into the banking secrecy rule when compared to the common law or other statutes. Banks can disclose customer’s information on even grounds of suspicion of money laundering. Banking secrecy is a customer privilege, whereas combating money laundering is critical for public safety and security. Indeed, achieving a proper balance is a desirable goal. But how do we go about achieving such a balance is a question encountered by many law enforcement authorities. This paper looks into these issues.

This paper mainly relies on statutes as its primary sources of information. As such, the relevant Malaysian laws that provide the banking secrecy rule will be identified and analyzed. It will be necessary to examine the banking secrecy rule in the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFA) and other relevant statutes in detail, as these are the most important legislation for the purpose of this paper.

On closer inspection, it is submitted that AMLATFA provides sufficient safeguards to ensure that the disclosure of customer’s information is carried out in a manner that is not prejudicial to the interest of legitimate customers. This is a positive approach that could protect the innocent customers from being mistreated by the law. Ultimately, it can be said that the growing threat of global money laundering and terrorism makes the overriding of banking secrecy justified because without a flow of information from the banks, the effective prevention of the menace is not possible.

This paper analyzes the inroads into the banking secrecy rule under the Malaysian anti-money laundering laws. It would provide some guidelines into this particular area for academics, banks, their legal advisers, practitioners and policy makers, not only in Malaysia but also elsewhere.

This paper aims to highlight the relationship between money laundering and the patterns of behaviour evident throughout the larger structural environment of the Swiss banking sector. In particular, the paper used HSBC as a prototype case of structural ritualisation to show that the normalisation of corrupt, unethical behaviour in the banking environment has shaped and influenced the behaviour and actions of the embedded group actors.

The paper used a content analysis methodological approach of media sources to collect data. The content analysis was categorised into six core ritualised symbolic practices (RSP) categories – corruption, reputation, blame, ignorance, regret and criticism.

The findings reveal that the highly ranked RSPs involving corruption, reputation, blame, regret, ignorance and criticism influence the embedded group’s patterns of behaviour, and they formed part of the cognitive script that dictated their behaviour and actions in the Swiss banking sector.

The paper added to the calls by Swiss policymakers for amendments to Swiss bank secrecy laws to reflect the changing landscape of international banking and finance.

This is the first paper of its kind to study ritualised illegal practices related to money laundering in the Swiss banking sector.

Panama is an isthmian strip of land uniting Central and South America, extending approximately 75,000 square kilometres and whose borders are: to the North, the Caribbean Sea; to the South, the Pacific Ocean; to the East, the Republic of Colombia; and to the West, the Republic of Costa Rica.

In recent years financial institutions, marketing researchers and public policy makers have recognised that behavioural analysis is vital for understanding bank customers. Most studies so far have focused on understanding the behaviour of customers of commercial banks in developed economies. Very little research has been undertaken concerning bank customers′ attitudes and behavioural characteristics in developing countries. The purpose of this study is to understand customers′ attitudes, beliefs and perceptions about the services offered by conventional and Islamic banks in Jordan. The information presented here will provide Jordanian bank executives and public policy makers, and other developing country executives, with insights into the kind of services bank customers find most appropriate to their banking needs.

The attitudes of bank customers towards Islamic banks are discussed, together with the perceived unique characteristics of Islamic banks by their customers, and the importance of selected patronage factors in choosing conventional and Islamic banks. It is concluded that in considering motives responsible for selecting Islamic banks as depository institutions, religious motives did not stand out as being the only significant ones; bank customers are profit motivated; the evidence generated in the study did not find an important consideration of the new branches′ role in increasing the utilisation of services provided by Islamic banks; peer group influence plays an important role in selecting Islamic banks as depository institutions; and there is a high degree of awareness on the part of bank customers of the advantage of the profit‐loss‐sharing modes of investment and of the economic and social development role of the Islamic banking system.

Reports the findings and implications of a retail bank marketing study which was conducted in the City of Perth in Western Australia in 1995. More specifically, the study was designed to determine and evaluate the importance of selected patronage motives used by Australian retail bank customers in choosing commercial banks. Also it sets out to determine the perceived usefulness of the variety of services offered by commercial banks to their customers and what these banks can do in order to improve their services to their clients to remain competitive. Using the case of one of the commercial banks cited in the study, a set of core activities (front stage as well as back stage) for banking staff are described and evaluated. Discusses the need for commercial banks to consider more and different marketing strategies, one of which would be internal marketing in addition to consumer‐oriented external marketing activities.