U.S. tax guilty plea involves unspecified major UK bank, Zurich banker
By Kim Dixon
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb 16 (Reuters) – A U.S. client of a big global bank based in England pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with assets stashed abroad to evade taxes, part of a widening crackdown on foreign banks and their customers.
The plea is the first among the government’s recent tax prosecutions that involves a major bank other than Swiss banking giant UBS AG. UBS last year admitted that it actively helped U.S. clients to hide money abroad.
Andrew Silva, of Sterling, Virginia, a doctor, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government by hiding about $250,000 in a Swiss account of that British bank.
Dressed in a black suit and accompanied by a weeping woman, Silva also pleaded guilty to lying to U.S. customs authorities, who questioned him as he traveled into the United States with some of the money.
U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady set May 7 for a sentencing hearing. Silva faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000.
The name of the bank was not disclosed but described in court documents as “one of the largest international banks in the world” … “headquartered in England.”
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.
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))
U.S. sanctions-violation fine for Credit Suisse raises Iran alarm
By Lisa Jucca and Steve Slater
ZURICH/LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) – A surprise $536 million settlement by Credit Suisse to a U.S. probe over financial dealings with Iran should only do short-term damage to the Swiss bank, but others could now be in the line of fire.
Credit Suisse said late on Tuesday it was in advanced talks over a settlement to a U.S. investigation into payments made between 2002 and 2007 involving countries and entities hit by U.S. economic sanctions. A person familiar with the issue said the probe related to dealings with Iran.
The Financial Times said U.S. authorities are believed to be investigating nine banks in relation to Iran, without citing sources.
Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group said it was continuing talks with U.S. authorities but did not expect to make any further payment in regard to charges that it faked records so clients from restricted countries, including Iran, could do business with it.
Lloyds agreed in January to forfeit $350 million to U.S. authorities in connection with the charges.
Other banks to have highlighted potential risks from U.S. economic sanctions in the past include Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays.
Obama creates U.S. task force to fight financial crime
By James Vicini and Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) – The Obama administration created a new task force on Tuesday to crack down on financial fraud, an increasingly important political issue after a spike in mortgage scams and big Wall Street trading scandals.
U.S. offshore tax amnesty yields big response – IRS
By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Some 14,700 rich Americans worried about a U.S. government crackdown on offshore tax cheats came forward to participate in a tax amnesty program, the top U.S. tax official said on Tuesday.
UBS warns US clients as tax amnesty deadline nears
By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – UBS AG has formally warned wealthy American clients that secret Swiss accounts may be revealed to U.S. tax authorities after the Wednesday expiration of an amnesty program that could give them immunity from prosecution.
U.S. deepens review of Yahoo, Microsoft deal
WASHINGTON, Sept 11 (Reuters) – U.S. antitrust regulators have requested more documents in their probe of Microsoft Corp’s deal to provide search engine technology to rival Yahoo Inc, the two companies said on Friday. Microsoft and Yahoo confirmed that the Justice Department’s antitrust division had made a second request for documents, which indicates a decision to conduct a deeper review that could take months.
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