Swiss retreat helps Transocean save millions

By Frank Jordans
Associated Press Writer / May 13, 2010

STEINHAUSEN, Switzerland—In the foothills of the Swiss Alps four new steel-gray towers rise from what used to be a grassy field. One of them is home to Transocean Ltd., the world's biggest offshore drilling contractor and owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to one of the worst oil spills in history.


Low taxes prompted the decision two years ago to move to landlocked Switzerland: The company paid 16 percent tax on its $4.4 billion global operating income last year. The regular corporate income tax in the United States stands at about 35 percent.

The company, once based in Delaware, shifted its head office from the Cayman Islands, where it has been since 1999, to the central Swiss canton (state) of Zug. It joined other international corporations flocking there in search of tax advantages -- and provoking simmering resentment among residents forced to move out in search of affordable housing, says Rupan Sivaganesan, a member of the cantonal parliament.

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