Switzerland In Focus - Discover Switzerland: Experience the Best of Switzerland - page 568

has 200 members, allocated from the 26 cantons in proportion to population size. The up-
per states chamber, the Ständerat, comprises 46 members, two per canton.
Opposition to political corruption sparked a movement for greater democracy. The con-
stitution was revised in 1874 so that many federal laws had to be approved by national
referendum - a phenomenon for which Switzerland remains famous today. A petition with
50,000 signatures can challenge a proposed law; 100,000 signatures can force a public
vote on any new issue.
Famously Secret: Swiss Banking
Banking confidentiality, dating back to the Middle Ages, was enshrined in Swiss law in
1934 when numbered (rather than named) bank accounts were introduced. The Swiss
banking industry has thrived ever since, thanks mainly to the enviable stability that guar-
anteed neutrality brings. When the Bank for International Settlements (BIS; the organisa-
tion that facilitates cooperation between central banks) chose Basel as base in 1930 it was
for one good reason - Switzerland was a neutral player.
The Magic Formula: Swiss
Government
The make-up of Switzerland's Federal Council, the executive government, is determined not by who wins the most
parliamentary seats (ie the winning party rules), but by the 'magic formula' - a cosy power-sharing agreement made
between the four main parties in 1959.
• » The Federal Council consists of seven ministers.
• » The four largest parties in parliament are guaranteed seats in the Federal Council in accordance with their shares
of the popular vote.
• » The president is drawn on a rotating basis from the seven federal ministers, so there's a new head of state each
year.
• » Many federal laws must first be approved by public referendum; several are held every year.
In the late 1990s a series of scandals erupted, forcing Switzerland to start reforming its
famously secretive banking industry, born when a clutch of commercial banks were cre-
ated in the mid-19th century. In 1995, after pressure from Jewish groups, Swiss banks an-