The first unambiguous defeat of Swiss bank secrecy came in 2009, when UBS buckled under pressure from US prosecutors. The bank had to pay fines and pass on client information about tax-evading US citizens. Bern was pressured into making this deal legal under Swiss law. Another blow was struck for transparency yesterday, when the Swiss government accepted a broader measure allowing more Swiss banks to give up client information to US prosecutors.

The law proposed by Bern will, if passed by the legislature this summer, authorise Swiss banks to comply with US prosecutors’ conditions for entering deferred prosecution agreements. These promise to draw a line under banks’ past violations of US law. As far as it goes, the law is a good one. It helps remove the legal and reputational uncertainty that is hampering Swiss banks’ business in the US market, and it lets the US exact punishment and admission of guilt from those who have helped Americans cheat on their taxes.

But the Swiss, who have been pulled kicking and screaming to this point, are trying to limit the damage to what used to be their banks’ competitive advantage: a discreet place to park your money. The law will suspend normal confidentiality rules for one year only. But the old and cosy world where too few questions were asked should not be allowed to survive.