Former UBS AG employee Stephanie Gibaud in 2008 was faced with the choice of whether to comply with her employer's request that she destroy records potentially indicating that the bank had courted tax-evading clients. When she refused, the bank psychologically bullied her until she departed in 2012.
If the acquittal of Raoul Weil earlier this week was for Swiss bankers a sign of hope and for American prosecutors a signal disappointment, it was both for a single reason. The verdict reflected the limits to U.S. ambitions to punish foreign bankers.
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.
An expected plan to resolve a U.S.-Swiss tax dispute will likely prompt a wave of disclosures by American taxpayers and clear the way for banks to turn over data on their employees.
Ongoing negotiations between the United States and European Union on a broad data-sharing arrangement will likely be complicated following the leaked disclosure this month of a transnational American surveillance program.
As settlement negotiations with Swiss banks continue, the IRS is turning its attention to jurisdictions outside of Europe, including two set to eclipse Switzerland as the world's top secrecy havens.
As Switzerland nears approval of a draft law allowing for greater financial data-sharing, Swiss officials will again find themselves navigating between two competing interests: protecting the nation's bank secrecy and pleasing those who wish to dismantle it.
A 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.
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.
A Swiss proposal of how to circumvent a court ruling that blocked an August data exchange agreement may leave U.S. investigators with fewer names of suspected tax cheats than expected.
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.
The dismissal last month of a $500 million civil lawsuit against UBS AG for allegedly contributing to terrorist attacks won't impact rulings on similar lawsuits against other banks, say analysts.
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.
The U.S. Justice Department settlement with one of Switzerland's largest banks that requires the bank to divulge the names of thousands of suspected tax evaders could provide just one more trail leading investigators to financial institutions in Asia.
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.
The United States and UBS AG said Wednesday that they had reached an agreement over whether U.S. investigators could access data on the bank's tax evading American clients.
The United States and UBS AG asked a Miami judge Friday to again delay a tax evasion hearing so the parties could hash out the details of a preliminary settlement.
The United States has reached a tentative agreement with UBS AG and Switzerland over a bank program that allowed U.S. tax payers to avoid reporting billions of dollars in revenue.