Two opposing - and mostly mutually exclusive - "religions" were preached eloquently to an illustrious audience of some 700 academics, bankers, judges, lawyers, politicians, police officials, prosecutors, regulators and other high-level professionals by speakers from all over the world:

1) More criminalization of socially objectionable acts (www.solami.com/CamEdw.doc; e.g. by extending anti-money laundering rules to the so-far exempt professions), strengthening of the coercive state instruments (i.e. police and justice), extra-territorial application of national laws and enhancement of national and international cooperation in the tracking of all payments exceeding $10000, including lifting of bank secrecy and dual criminality obstacles. Versus
2)  Review of citizen-state relation & penal code (www.solami.com/CamSym.htm) with a view to de-criminalize society while re-responsibilizing the citizen and strengthening his hand vis-à-vis the state,strict respect for democratic processes and institutions, limiting all lawmaking to constitutional processes, strict respect of human rights and their equivalent on the international level, i.e. sovereignty rights of foreign states.

    In qualitative terms, the questions raised in the plenary sessions and the ideas explored in many workshops very much centered on democratic processes as opposed to national and international bureaucratic lawmaking, on sovereignty as opposed to extra-territorial enforcement of national law, on human rights, privacy, due process and the Rule of Law.  However, the specter of FATF "fatwas" were raised more tongue-in-cheek than with real conviction, and the new term "tax avoision" was meant to muddle rather than to clarify the distinction between tax avoidance and tax fraud.  In one case, a defender of the notion of the citizen as the sole genuine sovereign and source of all legitimate state powers (ie those democratically delegated) found himself understood and essentially supported by a British prosecutor concerned - in tax matters too - about the preservation of such achievements of civilization as the presumption of innocence.  But he stood at a currently unbridgeable divide from a US assistant district attorney who held on to extra-territoriality and lex americana universalis ideas reminiscent not only of the bounty-hunting mentality which prevailed in the Wild West era but also still reflect a world view one would expect from a member of the American Flat-Earth Society.  Also, commenting on the Geneva Private Bankers' credo on financial privacy as being essential, the joker who was called upon to summarize the Symposium may have merely engaged in wishful thinking when he quipped: "Who are they fooling?  I thought Swiss banking secrecy is dead and their clients will soon find out if they haven't already."  But no less tellingly, he sought and got his cheap laugh from the audience when, equally tongue-in-cheek, he expressed the view that, of course, some "banks are dealing with integrity with their clients - unless they are dead Jews."

    In quantitative terms and - as noted by this observer - judged by their formal statements and private comments, at most only 5% are seen to belong to the first two categories, while over 95 % of the participants can be viewed as belonging to the category of fellow-travellers.  Prior to the September Devide, an estimated two thirds of this latter segment walked in the steps of leaders of the first "religion", while with and after the events of 11 September, their ranks swelled somewhat to three quarters.  As for the second "religion", its fellow-travellers, though correspondingly less in numbers, are seen to have since grown somewhat in vocality, i.e. they have mustered more courage to bring to properly reflect or express their outlook, gut reactions and convictions.  All the while the true believers, the jokers and the jesters of both camps are seen to have found themselves confirmed in their fundamental beliefs by recent events.  In most cases, they thus have found no reason to change their position.  And while not totally closing their eyes and minds to low-voiced and reasonable arguments by holders of other truth and wisdom, they more or less strongly persist in the pursuit of their ideas, agendas and objectives - in the event in camouflaged, yet no less effective form, such as commonly used by conspirators, jokers and jesters operating in an alien environment.