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Wegelin’s Settlement Likely Followed by Data Handover, Say Tax Attorneys
By Colby Adams
printSwitzerland'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. Wegelin & Co. became the first foreign bank ever to admit its role in facilitating U.S. tax fraud by secretly holding at least $1.2 billion in accounts maintained for American citizens. Including a $16.2 million forfeiture by the U.S Justice Department in April, the bank will pay $74 million for the violations, according to prosecutors. The St. Gallen-based bank, which first opened its doors in 1742, disclosed in a statement following the...
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