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To U.S.-Swiss Tax Evasion Settlement, a Pocket of Bankers Marshals Resistance
By Irene Madongo
printHundreds of Swiss bankers are suing to stop their old employers from turning over to the United States details of their interactions with suspected American tax evaders, according to a tax attorney. Under a bilateral deal reached in August 2013, a raft of Swiss banks not already under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department must share data on former and current American clients who may have skirted tax reporting rules. The deal also asks the Swiss institutions to name employees and other parties who acted as advisors to wealthy American customers. The agreement has prompted current and former bankers, as...
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Not long ago, U.S. settlements in the hundreds of millions of dollars for violations of American law by a foreign bank seemed unlikely, if not out of the realm of possibility altogether. Then came the $780 million deferred prosecution agreement with UBS AG in 2009.
Financial institutions continue to struggle with hiring effective Bank Secrecy Act officers, allocating sufficient compliance resources and employing adequate internal controls, U.S. regulators said Tuesday.
Facing the possibility of stiff monetary settlements, several Swiss banks are threatening to seize funds from U.S. clients who refuse to declare their offshore accounts to the Internal Revenue Service.
Credit Suisse AG's guilty plea to charges that it hid clients' assets from U.S. tax collectors is likely to translate into more troubles for the institution, both here and abroad.
Credit Suisse is unlikely to turn over the names of some suspected tax cheats even if the United States adopts a pending bilateral tax agreement with Switzerland, bank representatives told lawmakers Wednesday.
As a long-negotiated U.S.-Swiss tax settlement inches forward, some banks in Switzerland are asking themselves an unlikely question: can we disclose more?
The IRS can serve broad summonses to five of the world's largest banks as part of an effort to collect data on American tax evaders, the Southern District of New York said.
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.
Liechtenstein's oldest bank will pay nearly $24 million to the United States for aiding American tax evaders for at least a decade, the Southern District of New York disclosed Tuesday.
The indictment of a now-defunct Swiss financial institution and threatened charges against the country's largest publicly-owned bank fueled Switzerland's decision last month to seek a broad data-sharing agreement with American officials.
Switzerland's oldest financial institution may be compelled to share data on its American clients after pleading guilty Thursday to helping customers hide revenue from the IRS, say attorneys.
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.
Even as Swiss and U.S. authorities near an expected settlement over American allegations of tax evasion, some financial institutions in Switzerland are informing their clients how to disguise money abroad, say industry sources.
As the United States continues its crackdown on foreign banks that aid American tax evaders, the role compliance officers can play in reporting the crime remains unclear, say bankers.
The U.S. government will ask Credit Suisse to turn over information on more than 1,000 accountholders as part of an ongoing criminal tax probe, according to an individual familiar with the matter.
The U.S. crackdown on tax evasion that began with the UBS AG settlement is prompting widespread changes in how foreign banks serve American clients and bringing individual bankers under greater scrutiny.
The U.S. Justice Department fined Deutsche Bank $553 million Tuesday for helping 2,100 of its clients claim $29.3 billion in illegitimate tax benefits with the Internal Revenue Service.
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 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.