Saturday, March 17, 2012

Why American tax evaders can no longer count on Swiss bank secrecy...

Switzerland's oldest private bank, Wegelin & Co., had survived three centuries of upheaval on the continent, including Napoleon's invasion of the country and two World Wars. But its illustrious history was brought to an end last month by an unlikely source: a U.S. government desperate to track down tax evaders.

In early February, in a move that rattled Switzerland's financial industry, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Wegelin on charges of helping wealthy Americans hide $1.2 billion from U.S. tax authorities. As the first foreign bank in history to be indicted by the U.S. government, the ruined Wegelin was quickly sold to a former rival, Raiffeisen Group. But the Obama Administration was just getting started — it also ramped up the pressure on 11 more Swiss financial institutions to hand over their American clients' names. Now it looks like U.S. authorities might get their wish.

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But not everyone in Switzerland is happy about it. The right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) argues that the agreement is a breach of constitutional privacy rights and a brazen attempt by a cash-strapped U.S. government eager to fill its coffers with tax revenue. "Americans disregard rights of others just to be able to pay off their huge debt," the party claims on its website, adding that American authorities are "hypocrites" for pressuring Swiss banks while thousands of "dummy" companies set up in Delaware are helping U.S. corporations evade taxes in their own country. Full story...

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  3. Foreigners account for more than 2000 billion francs in Swiss banks...
  4. Massive amounts of India's dirty money hding in Swiss banks?
  5. Hosni Mubarak's sons have $340 million in Swiss banks...
  6. India to get info on 'black money' in Swiss banks...
  7. The end of Swiss bank secrecy...
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