Cash is king as Switzerland unveils new banknotes

Washington

MANUEL Brandenberg, a lawmaker in the Swiss canton of Zug, loves cash - so much so that he once astounded a municipal official by paying his taxes with a wad of banknotes.

That belief in bills is shared by many of his compatriots, who have a penchant for hard currency even when electronic options are available. In a country whose wealth managers flourished thanks to banking secrecy, citizens often cherish the untraceable privacy conferred by notes and coins.