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Judge Dismisses UBS Tax Evasion Case at U.S. Behest
printA federal court Monday dismissed criminal charges against UBS AG after determining that the Swiss banking giant fulfilled its obligations under a high-profile deal made with U.S. authorities in August 2009. The arrangement stemmed from a February 2009 deferred prosecution agreement in which UBS agreed to pay a $780 million penalty and admit that it helped at least 17,000 Americans evade taxes. The bank also agreed to exit its U.S. cross-border banking business, according to court documents. After a protracted legal battle and political wrangling, Switzerland allowed the bank in June to turn over details on 4,450 suspected U.S. tax...
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Financial trade groups are asking the U.S. Treasury Department for more time to comply with intergovernmental agreements intended to shine a light on bank accounts held by American tax dodgers.
A Geneva court's ruling clearing the way for bankers to know whether their employers have identified them to American investigators threatens to complicate a negotiated U.S.-Swiss tax deal, say sources.
A U.S.-Swiss plan to resolve a tax evasion dispute may absolve Switzerland's government from further action but will prove costly and time-consuming for participating banks, say attorneys.
In his 12-year career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, Daniel W. Levy has investigated and prosecuted several banks, bankers, and financial services advisors that facilitated the evasion of U.S. taxes through the use of complicit offshore financial institutions.
Swiss financial institutions will likely exploit gaps in a bilateral agreement between the United States and Switzerland to preserve bank secrecy for their clients, says the bestselling author of a book on money laundering.
An expected pitch Friday by Switzerland's executive branch to clear the way for banks to share data with the United States is likely to face stiff domestic challenges, say Swiss attorneys.
A plan to require member-states of the European Union to automatically exchange tax-related data in an effort to boost government revenues is likely to face political and logistical challenges.
An expected agreement between the United Kingdom and Switzerland to tax half of the income of Britons keeping undeclared assets in Swiss bank accounts is a significant step backward in the fight against bank secrecy, say tax reform advocates.
Switzerland will begin disclosing account data on nearly 4,000 UBS AG clients within a week after Swiss lawmakers Thursday approved the handover, marking an unprecedented exception to the country's bank secrecy laws.
A decision by Swiss lawmakers to block a deal allowing UBS AG to turn over client data to the United States has left supporters of the agreement scrambling to find an alternative.
A decision by a Swiss court suspending challenges of a U.S. investigation of UBS AG accounts has cleared the way for Swiss lawmakers to decide in June whether to turn over account data.
It is an exciting time for IRS investigators who are now able to examine the UBS AG accounts of over 4,500 U.S. citizens suspected of hiding assets offshore, according to John Everett, a licensed criminal investigator and certified fraud examiner based in Agoura Hills, California.
As many as a dozen countries are expected to press UBS AG for information on tax evaders following the bank's settlement last week with the United States, say tax analysts.
Switzerland's largest bank agreed Wednesday to release details to the United States on 4,450 accounts held by U.S. taxpayers suspected of failing to report a total of $18 billion in revenue, the parties said.
Switzerland's largest bank will pay $780 million to the United States for helping 17,000 U.S. citizens evade paying taxes on offshore revenue, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday.