The End of Bank Secrecy? An Evaluation of the G20 Tax Haven Crackdown: Dataset.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. http://dx.doi. org/10.1257/pol.6.1.65

During the financial crisis, G20 countries compelled tax havens to sign bilateral treaties providing for exchange of bank information. Policymakers have celebrated this global initiative as the end of bank secrecy. Exploiting a unique panel dataset, our study is the first attempt to assess how the treaties affected bank deposits in tax havens. Rather than repatriating funds, our results suggest that tax evaders shifted deposits to havens not covered by a treaty with their home country. The crackdown thus caused a relocation of deposits at the benefit of the least compliant havens. We discuss the policy implications of these findings. (JEL G21, G28, H26, H87, K34) In August 2009, France and Switzerland amended their tax treaty. The two coun-tries agreed to exchange upon request all information necessary for tax enforce-ment, including bank information otherwise protected by Swiss bank secrecy laws. Over the following months, one of France’s richest persons and her wealth manager were taped discussing what to do with two undeclared Swiss bank accounts, worth $160 million. After a visit to Switzerland, the wealth manager concluded that keep