Swiss Banks Near Deal on U.S. Tax Cheats

A group of Swiss banks is lining up to deliver key information to U.S. authorities

ZURICH—A group of Swiss banks is lining up to deliver key information to U.S. authorities investigating tax evasion, potentially moving a long-running legal battle further toward a close.

Last week, the Swiss cabinet unveiled a program that would allow roughly a dozen Swiss banks that are being investigated by the Justice Department to deliver data on Swiss bank accounts held by American clients that had been transferred to other institutions as U.S. authorities began cracking down on overseas tax evasion.

Under the program, banks would deliver "leaver lists"—aggregate data on bank accounts that can be used to identify tax evaders—directly to U.S. authorities, a step that could further chip away at Switzerland's historic banking privacy.

The program was developed after Switzerland's Parliament rejected a broader proposal for cooperating with U.S. authorities. It also allows banks to provide information on employees who assisted American clients in the past. Banks already being investigated by the DOJ have previously handed over such information to the U.S.

Some of the country's biggest banks, including Credit Suisse Group AG and Julius Baer Group AG, are eligible to apply or already have applied for Swiss government approval to participate, according to people familiar with the situation. Agreements between the banks and U.S. authorities are possible in the coming weeks, these people say.

The agreements could be similar to the 2009 deferred-prosecution agreement struck between Swiss banking giant UBS AG and the U.S., that resulted in a $780 million fine for the bank and a trove of information for investigators about Americans holding assets in Switzerland. Deferred-prosecution agreements would enable banks to avoid criminal prosecution in exchange for admitting to helping Americans evade taxes and most likely paying fines.

The U.S. has become increasingly aggressive in chasing tax evaders abroad. The DOJ's prosecution of Wegelin & Co., Switzerland's oldest bank, contributed to it going defunct. Neue Zürcher Bank, another bank that came under DOJ investigation, also is defunct.

Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and other Swiss banks under investigation by the Justice Department now may be closer to their own settlements, the people familiar with the situation said. Credit Suisse, the country's second-largest bank by assets, set aside 295 million Swiss francs ($310 million) in 2011 to deal with potential penalties resulting from its dealings with U.S. clients. Julius Baer has said it wasn't able to determine the size of penalties it may face.

In addition to Credit Suisse and Julius Baer, Pictet & Cie., Basler Kantonalbank, Zürcher Kantonalbank and the Swiss unit of Israel's Bank Leumi are among the roughly dozen Swiss banks being investigated by the DOJ.

Representatives of those banks either declined to comment or didn't return phone calls seeking comment.

The handover of information could help the DOJ assess how to treat individual banks, and "whether or not a bank should be granted a nonprosecution agreement or a deferred-prosecution agreement and how to calibrate what penalty a bank should pay," said William Sharp, a tax attorney at Sharp + Kemm.

A nonprosecution agreement is similar to a deferred-prosecution agreement but imposes fewer conditions.

The U.S. isn't alone in targeting taxpayers who use Swiss banks to avoid obligations. The U.K., Germany and France also have pressured Switzerland as they seek to shore up finances that have been depleted by the financial crisis and ensuing economic slowdown.

The U.S. has used the information gained through its probes of Swiss banks to pursue a broader array of alleged tax evaders. The DOJ also has gathered information on Swiss accounts held by Americans from nearly 40,000 participants in voluntary offshore-disclosure programs.

Some banks facing U.S. probes have simply stopped dealing with American clients. Basler Kantonalbank, for example, stopped taking American clients in early 2009.

Tobias Straumann, a lecturer in economic history at the University of Zurich, said the new program could be a significant step toward banks that have already been under investigation for years reaching settlements with the DOJ within "weeks or months."

Still, Mr. Straumann cautioned the banks could encounter problems if institutions named on their leaver lists as taking in U.S. accounts contest their inclusion in the material provided to the Justice Department.

"That's the big unknown," Mr. Straumann said.

Leaver lists are expected to contain generalized data on the number of undeclared American accounts maintained at a bank, and the amounts they held before being transferred out to other lenders. The names of individual clients holding the accounts would remain secret.

Bank employees also might contest the handover of their personal data to U.S. authorities in Swiss courts.

In addition to the dozen banks under investigation, scores of Switzerland's roughly 300 lenders still are evaluating the legal risk they may be exposed to because of undeclared American assets on their books.

Last week, the Swiss cabinet said "further talks" are being conducted with the DOJ to hash out a program for those banks not already faced with criminal proceedings to settle any outstanding issues.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...d=djemalertNEWS

Swiss Banks? Any dope that still keeps their money there is so out of date, they probably still listen to Menudo driving around in their Countach. All the real money goes to the Caribbean or places down south.

New money ------> goes to the Caribbean.

Old money -------> "Bigger Money" still in Swiss Banks !!

Quote: W-Girl wrote in post #3

---

Old money -------> "Bigger Money" still in Swiss Banks !!

---

Quote: Frank Cannon wrote in post #4

---

Quote: W-Girl wrote in post #3

---

Old money -------> "Bigger Money" still in Swiss Banks !!

---

You may be right, but I have a hard time believing that they are still there after the Regime has been working on this for over 4 years. It is not like this is a surprise or something that happened over night.

---

Quote: W-Girl wrote in post #5

---

Most have reported it already .......when offered "some" amnesty provisions 4 years ago.
The really really rich are probably litigating it or waiting to be caught !!

---

Quote: Frank Cannon wrote in post #6

---

Thankfully I moved my millions out of Switzerland years ago and moved it all to Egyptian banks. Nothing beats the stability Mubarak has maintained over the last several decades and there is no way they would let the US get involved in their affairs.

---

Quote: W-Girl wrote in post #7

---

And, I am sure your 'ROR' has been impressive from Egypt too !!

---

Zitat

---

I'm sure Mubarak will get things tamped down. He is always good like that.

---

The tides should turn back ...any day now !!

Hang in there, Frank !!