Store up treasures in...Switzerland

Money stashed in Swiss banks is getting converted into art stored in Swiss warehouses:

An art warehouse in Geneva

... But even if the world's rich are getting richer, many of them are also worried. The financial crisis isn't over yet, and tax havens worldwide are under pressure to disclose the identities of people whose assets are parked in their banks. 

Recently, even Swiss bankers have been sending letters to their clients, asking them to cooperate with tax authorities and consider turning themselves in. ...

But not everything the banks are losing is actually leaving Switzerland. Customers are admittedly emptying out their accounts and safe deposit boxes. But partly as a result of the many uncertainties in the financial markets, a growing share of the money is being invested in tangible assets, such as art, wine and classic cars. A total of $4 trillion has reportedly been invested in "treasure assets," a category including various kinds of precious objects.

This requires warehouse space that satisfies the most stringent security requirements. Swiss military bunkers blasted deep into Alpine rock are in great demand. But the free ports in Geneva and Zurich are even more popular because they offer what Swiss banks used to: the freedoms of a tax haven and maximum discretion.

"Scared customers are currently transferring their assets from the banks to the city's warehouses," says a pleasant woman at the Geneva free port. So far, she adds, only Swiss customs has shown an interest in the contents of the warehouses, while foreign tax authorities' chances of gaining access to lists of stored property are slim.