Swiss may need laws on banks’ structure-experts
BERNE, April 22 (Reuters) – Switzerland may have to force its large banks UBS<UBSN.VX> and Credit Suisse<CSGN.VX> to change their structure in order to limit the risks for the economy should either collapse, a government commission said on Thursday. (more…)
Former UBS chairman willing to give evidence-report
ZURICH, March 9 (Reuters) – Former UBS <UBS.N><UBSN.VX> chairman Marcel Ospel is willing to give evidence to a parliamentary committee into the Swiss government’s bailout of the bank during the financial crisis, daily Blick reported on Tuesday. (more…)
Swiss minister says US insists on UBS tax deal – paper
ZURICH, Feb 11 (Reuters) – The Swiss government will probably have to turn to parliament to resolve a legal impasse threatening a deal struck with the United States to hand over data from UBS AG clients, a minister was quoted as saying.
The Swiss government had raised the option of parliament retroactively approving the deal, involving UBS clients suspected of dodging taxes, after a Swiss court ruled in favour of a UBS client seeking to prevent her account data from being given to the U.S. tax agency.
But the government’s preferred solution has so far been to negotiate a way out, hoping the United States would drop the issue if more than 10,000 UBS clients had turned themselves in voluntarily.
“I assume today that parliament has to get involved,” Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told Swiss daily Blick in an interview published on Thursday.
“The United States insist that we stick to the fundamentals of the agreement. This means they want the some 4,500 sets of client data, which refer to cases of severe tax evasion and tax fraud,” she said.
Only some of a total 14,000 clients who have turned themselves in voluntarily to U.S. authorities are UBS clients, Widmer-Schlumpf said when asked if not enough UBS clients have turned themselves in, without giving a detailed number.
A spokesman for the justice ministry said talks with U.S. authorities were continuing, also declining to provide further details. (Reporting by Sven Egenter) ((sven-markus.egenter@thomsonreuters.com; +41.58.306.7351; Reuters Messaging: sven-markus.egenter.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Swiss minister sees economic risk in U.S. tax dispute over UBS, shares fall
By Lisa Jucca
ZURICH, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Shares in UBS AG fell to a 6-1/2 month low on Monday after the justice minister underscored the risk to the Swiss economy should the bank’s settlement of a U.S. tax dispute unravel.
Traders said news Germany was considering buying data of 1,500 possible tax evaders with Swiss bank accounts from an informant also weighed on the shares.
UBS settled a damaging tax row with the United States in August by agreeing to transfer data on 4,450 clients to U.S. tax authorities. But that deal is in question after a Swiss court ruled last month that most of the data cannot be transferred.
The threat that UBS could lose its license in the United States, and face collapse as a result, has hung over the bank since the tax dispute escalated at the start of 2009.
“We know … the Swiss economy and the job market would suffer on a major scale should UBS fail as a result of its licence being revoked in the United States,” Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf was quoted as saying in an interview with Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche, published on Sunday.
The stability of UBS, which had to be rescued by the state in the middle of the financial crisis, is vital to Switzerland as the bank’s liabilities are worth several times the country’s gross domestic product.
ANALYSIS-Banks not out of woods after Swiss tax ruling
By Kim Dixon
WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) – The Swiss court ruling in favor of a U.S. client who stashed funds in a UBS account sets a higher hurdle to aggressive efforts by the U.S. government to go after other banks helping wealthy tax cheats — but the banks are not out of the woods yet.
A Swiss court ruled last week that the client’s failure to file a tax form did not constitute “fraud or the like,” a requirement for data to be revealed under a double taxation agreement with the United States.
The ruling puts in jeopardy Switzerland’s delivery of 4,450 UBS client accounts to U.S. authorities, as agreed in August.
Caught in the crosshairs are other foreign banks the U.S. says it is informally examining for possibly helping U.S. tax cheats. A voluntary amnesty program for those with undeclared income turned up accounts at Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and HSBC, among others.
“It presents a serious roadblock to pursuing other banks,” said Peter Henning, law professor at Wayne State University and a former criminal division attorney at the Justice Department.
Still, the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Justice believe they have a strong case and will want to fight the Swiss ruling. Officials have already said they are informally looking at other unnamed banks.
Switzerland, France settle dispute over tax records
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Switzerland and France settled a row over stolen bank records on Wednesday that was blocking a treaty aimed at helping Paris catch tax cheats.
Switzerland said in December it would freeze the tax treaty talks after French authorities obtained tax-sensitive client information from a former HSBC employee, which it said helped identify 3,000 suspected French tax evaders.
“We have found an agreement,” Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz said after talks with French Budget Minister Eric Woerth on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting.
“France has agreed not to use stolen data when asking for (tax) information,” he said during a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, an outspoken critic of tax havens, to address the Davos conference.
A French official said Paris would continue to use the HSBC data in prosecuting tax offenders, but confirmed it would not use the records to seek information on account holders from Switzerland under the agreement.
Both sides said there were still some details to be sorted out with regards to a letter accompanying the accord reached on Wednesday, but Merz said it should be sorted out within days.
Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said she had asked France to hand the data back because it was obtained illegally, but Paris defended its decision, saying it had not broken any French laws.
Swiss government moves to save UBS tax deal
BERNE, Jan 27 (Reuters) – The Swiss government is to talk to the U.S. authorities in a bid to resolve a legal impasse that has threatened to derail a key tax deal over UBS client data, it said on Wednesday.
A UBS client last week won a Swiss court appeal to prevent her account data from being given to the U.S. taxman, throwing doubt on Switzerland’s ability to deliver details of 4,450 UBS client accounts to U.S. authorities as agreed in August.
“The cabinet is convinced that it can definitively overcome the continuing legal and sovereignty conflict with the United States with all its damaging consequences for Switzerland’s economy and as a financial centre,” the government said.
UBS shares, which have fallen steeply since the court ruling, reversed losses after the announcement to trade up 0.3 percent at 14.54 Swiss francs at 1318 GMT, compared with a 1.2 percent weaker DJ Stoxx European banking index.
The Swiss government said in a statement after a cabinet meeting a possible step could be to seek retroactive approval for the UBS deal from the Swiss parliament.
(Reporting by Jason Rhodes, writing by Emma Thomasson) ((jason.rhodes@thomsonreuters.com; +41 58 306 7312; Reuters Messaging: jason.rhodes.reuters.com@reuters.com))
Obama plan could hurt U.S. banks-Swiss banker
ZURICH, Jan 25 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama’s proposals to split traditional banking activities from riskier areas will harm U.S. banks without international co-ordination, a prominent Swiss banker said in Monday’s Financial Times. (more…)
UBS client wins Swiss appeal against data handover, tax deal in question
ZURICH, Jan 22 (Reuters) – A client of Swiss bank UBS won an appeal to prevent her account data being handed over to U.S. authorities as part of a deal to give details on 4,450 clients to the U.S. taxman, a court said.
The Swiss administrative court said on Friday the existing double taxation agreement with the United States only allowed for data to be disclosed in cases of “fraud or the like”.
While the pilot case throws doubt on whether Switzerland will be able to hand over all of the 4,450 accounts the United States wants, an alternative criterion allowing for the deal to stand if at least 10,000 clients come forward voluntarily could make this irrelevant.
Swiss regulator cuts UBS bonus pool – report
GENEVA, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Swiss regulators have cut the proposed bonus pool at UBS <UBSN.VX>, which needed a state rescue in 2008, by about one quarter, Swiss weekly Sonntags-Zeitung said on Sunday. (more…)
-
Author Profile
-
