ESL / EFL Lesson Plan on Switzerland's Banks

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Swiss banks promise less secrecy
Switzerland’s banks will soon ____________________ operate. Swiss banks have for centuries been the place for the rich to deposit money they want to hide. Many wealthy ____________________ taxes in their own country by opening a Swiss bank account. However, the Swiss government is under a lot of international ____________________ banking laws because of the global banking crisis. The U.S. in particular says it is now time for Americans to pay tax in the USA. America’s government wants Swiss banks to stop ____________________ tax. Helping foreigners evade tax is not a crime in Switzerland. Swiss banks have made trillions of dollars from protecting wealthy foreigners who should be paying tax on ____________________ own government.

Switzerland is the world’s largest tax haven. Swiss president Hans-Rudolf Merz said Swiss banks ____________________ the international community to fight the tax cheats. However, he said any help would only be on a ____________________. He said banks would only help where foreign governments can ____________________ are breaking the law. Many governments say this is not good enough. It also means the world’s dictators can continue to steal their country’s riches ____________________ Swiss banks. US President Obama wants to rid the world of tax havens, which he believes is costing the USA billions of dollars a year in lost tax revenues. Switzerland ____________________. It fears it could be blacklisted by world powers.

Source: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com