Several Swiss cantons takes on appeal as "victimised" financiers threaten exodus from Great BritainSENIOR. financiers are using top-level meetings in Davos to warn that the hostile tax regime in Britain will persuade many bankers to move to Switzerland. The group was expected to use a meeting with Alistair Darling last Friday to complain about the "victimisation" of the banking industry and to say that the looming rise in top rate income tax, the 50 per cent bonus tax and the rule that 60 per cent of bonuses must be deferred for anyone earning more than pounds 1 million makes the UK far less attractive than other countries. Two senior bankers attending the World Economic Forum said last Thursday that a substantial number of employees had asked to leave London. "Banks like us are going to have to think hard about whether we respond to staff requests," one boss said. Some employees, particularly Americans who have been working in their London offices, are asking to go home. Others are apparently being seduced by the low taxes and high standard of living in Switzerland. Several Swiss cantons have been marketing themselves in London, with Zug -the tiny canton where individuals can pay about 10 per cent in income tax- one of the most active. A business group representing eight cantons, the Greater Zurich Area, has already marketed the region in London, and individual cantons have similar plans. Marc Rudolf, a business development manager for the Greater Zurich Area, spoke at an event for hedge fund managers in London in September and said that "many more events" were planned for this month and next. Law and accountancy firms are planning such events for hedge funds and other wealthy clients, Mr Rudolf said. While big banks consider requests from staff for moves, more nimble hedge fund managers are already packing their suitcases. Kinetic, a leading hedge fund consultancy, estimates that as many as 150 hedge fund managers will leave the UK and relocate to Geneva, Zurich or another Swiss canton before the new tax year. The Chancellor's 50 per cent tax rate on incomes above pounds 150,000 comes into effect on April 6. This, and other tax measures regarded by hedge funds as anti-entrepreneurial, has led them to seek more tax-efficient locations, they say. Kinetic has advised 23 hedge funds in the past 18 months on their plans to relocate from London to Switzerland. Andrew Shrimpton, a partner at Kinetic, said his consultancy was working with hedge funds that have recently moved staff to Switzerland to ensure that their managers comply with regulations put in place by the Financial Services Authority. Staff based outside the UK are not obliged to conform to FSA guidelines, "but investors are often comforted if they do," he said. Kinetic has been carrying out FSA "health checks" for a dozen Swiss-based hedge funds, ten of which have moved there from Britain. BlueCrest, a London hedge fund manager, has already decided to relocate 50 of its 340 staff to Geneva. The company, whose offices at present overlook Buckingham Palace Gardens, is planning the move before April. Others could follow, including Brevan Howard Asset Management, Europe's biggest hedge fund, which has invited London staff to consider whether they want to move to Geneva. It has set up an office that could accommodate up to 50 people. The Times has learnt that the team could include some of Brevan Howard's highest earners, who are looking at houses and schools in French-speaking Swiss cantons. "A final decision is likely to be taken by April," a manager in Geneva said. "They'll make the move if they can persuade enough of their people to come here and, ultimately, that depends on the wives and children." There are drawbacks to moving to Switzerland. Critics point to high house prices, a lack of local business talent and "not much to do". In a survey carried out by Financial News, one manager complained about Switzerland's strict bureaucracy: "Using the wrong colour bag for rubbish results in a SwFr150 (pounds 88) fine - and they track you down," he told the newspaper. Another said that soaring property prices and a lack of supply, particularly in Geneva, meant that it was difficult to find accommodation for support staff, many of whom have to commute to work from outside the city. The leaders of big banks also have a more complex decision to make than hedge funds, as they are engaged in a wider struggle with the Government. One banker who admitted he had received requests from some of his well-paid staff to move was unwilling to talk about the issue because he did not want to further inflame relations with the Government at a time when politicians around the world are highly critical of bankers' pay and their activities.