By Michael SidwellSwiss banking secrecy shaken /in the news/February 2009/2009/newsletter/publications
The US government has sued UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, in an attempt to force the bank to reveal the identities of as many as 52,000 American clients suspected of hiding their Swiss accounts from US tax authorities.
The civil suit filed by the US Department of Justice on 19 February claims that UBS “engaged in cross-border securities transactions in the US that it knew violated security laws and helped US taxpayers set up dummy offshore companies,” reports the Financial Times (FT).
UBS will “vigorously contest” the case, said the bank in a statement, according to Bloomberg.
“The suit came a day after UBS reached a landmark settlement with the US government in which the Swiss bank admitted having enabled clients to evade taxes, agreed to pay [US]$ 780m (€ 610,7m) in fines and turn over about 250 client names to the US,” notes the FT.
The settlement has “provoked intensive questioning over the future of Switzerland’s famously secretive banking industry as international pressure mounts for more transparency,” continues the article.
Despite Swiss laws guarding bank client confidentiality, Finma, the country’s financial regulator, and the Swiss government have said that: “they had no choice but to let UBS hand over some names data to avoid a criminal case which could have threatened the bank's existence and hurt the Swiss economy, heavily dependent on the banking industry,” reports Reuters.
“Banking secrecy, ladies and gentleman, remains intact,” said Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz at a news conference (LA Times).
The Associated Press (AP) reports that Merz, UBS and Switzerland’s financial regulator have all asserted that the handover is not “a retreat from the principle of banking secrecy because it concerns only a small number of files that are linked to tax fraud – and not tax evasion.”
“Under a 75-year-old law, Swiss banking secrecy can only be lifted when individuals are deemed to have deliberately defrauded tax authorities as opposed to failing to declare all assets, a distinction only Switzerland and other tax havens make,” explains the article.
However, some experts say that the settlement has “opened cracks in Switzerland's famous bank secrecy laws,” according to Reuters.
“Germany, France and Britain want tough action against all offshore tax havens following last year's revelations that hundreds of rich Europeans had been stashing money away in the tiny Alpine principality of Liechtenstein, which has similar banking rules to Switzerland,” writes the AP.
“Nearly a third of the wealth that is stashed in tax havens around the world is in Swiss banks -- an estimated [US] $2.2 trillion [€1,7 trillion],” reports Reuters.
INTERESTING THINGS FOR YOU AT NIGHT PART 2 + 3 (ULTIMATE EXPANSION)
Japan Video Games Blog
- In Stock Now - One Piece Door Painting Collection Figure - Monkey D. Luffy Animal Ver. (1/7 Scale) - $129.99 - 8/20/2012
- Pre-Order Now - Hatsune Miku - Project DIVA - f (Import PS Vita) - $89.99 - 7/9/2012
- In Stock Now - Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 [DSi Enhanced] (Import DS) - $74.99/each - 6/22/2012
- In Stock Now - Jakks Where's My Water Large Plush Wave 1 - 10" Swampy / Cranky / Allie - $19.99/each - 6/20/2012
- In Stock Now - Jakks Where's My Water Small Plush Wave 1 Alligator - 7" Swampy / Cranky / Allie - $14.99/each - 6/20/2012
TO THOSE WHO DON'T WANT THEIR WORK PROMOTED
Hey guys and gals! We FIND and PROMOTE people's work, we never take credit for things we haven't written, we just love sharing the things that are interesting, but if you don't want your work or pictures shown, please let me know and I'll take it off, we're not trying to harm any one here or infringe on anyone's copyrights, just late night entertainment for my friends and I after a long days of work.
We're not making money off the site, nor are we publishing anything to other places through feedburner claiming that it's our work, just a hobby of finding cool things around the internet, that's all. Sometimes we copy and paste too quickly and a link giving you credit doesn't appear, if that's the case and you DO want your work promoted, we will add in the backlink, we would love to give credit where credit is due!
Please contact me or drop a comment on any posts you guys don't want up and I'll take it off within 24 hours, thanks!
We're not making money off the site, nor are we publishing anything to other places through feedburner claiming that it's our work, just a hobby of finding cool things around the internet, that's all. Sometimes we copy and paste too quickly and a link giving you credit doesn't appear, if that's the case and you DO want your work promoted, we will add in the backlink, we would love to give credit where credit is due!
Please contact me or drop a comment on any posts you guys don't want up and I'll take it off within 24 hours, thanks!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Swiss banking secrecy shaken /in the news/February 2009/2009/newsletter/publications
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Marc and Angel Hack Life
- 5 Reasons My 90-Year-Old Grandma Genuinely Smiled on Her Final Day - 4/25/2025 - Marc Chernoff
- 24 Tiny Challenges for Finishing the Year Stronger than Ever Before - 11/28/2024 - Angel Chernoff
- 10 Daily Habits that Often Waste 99 Percent of Our Time and Energy in Life - 5/27/2025 - Marc Chernoff
- 10 Ways to Break Your Own Heart Today (Without Even Trying) - 2/16/2025 - Angel Chernoff
- 14 Good Morning Quotes for Calming Your Worried Mind - 6/13/2025 - Marc Chernoff
Self Improvement
Error loading feed.
Personal Development with The Positivity Blog
- The Power of Gratitude: 5 Small Tips for a Happier Life - 7/9/2025 - Henrik Edberg
- Go Easy on Yourself: 4 Simple Tips to Help You Do What Matters in a Self-Kind Way - 7/2/2025 - Henrik Edberg
- 23 Small Ways to Make Life Simpler - 6/23/2025 - Henrik Edberg
- 6 Summer Tips for Unwinding, Recharging and Taking Care of Yourself - 6/18/2025 - Henrik Edberg
- The Top 10 Ways to Be Kind to Yourself Starting Today - 6/12/2025 - Henrik Edberg
HowStuffWorks: Health Daily RSS Feed
- 10 Bizarre Ways to Die - 2/12/2010 -
- Are you really only using 10 percent of your brain? - 2/12/2010 -
- 5 Natural Anti-Aging Techniques - Invalid Date -
- Do nail salon workers have a higher incidence of cancer? - 2/12/2010 -
- Do men and women need different cleansers? - 2/12/2010 -
PickTheBrain | Smarter Self Improvement
Error loading feed.
I will change your life . com
- Best Phone Plans 101 - 6/24/2021 - Unknown
No comments:
Post a Comment