Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights or use this link to reference the article - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7266fabc-3e04-11e0-99ac-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1EeSi2Khh
A Credit Suisse banker has been arrested in connection with a long-running US tax evasion investigation and could be one of several individuals likely to face charges this week as prosecutors turn their focus from institutions to bankers and wealthy clients, said people familiar with the matter.
Christos Bagios was arrested about two weeks ago on entering the US and is in transit to a detention centre in southern Florida, according to the Bureau of Prisons’ website and people familiar with the matter.
The arrest is part of a US government crackdown on tax evasion schemes that has shaken Swiss banking secrecy.
In 2009, the US Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service reached a landmark deal with UBS in which the Swiss bank agreed to pay $780m and turn over thousands of client names.
Switzerland yesterday ended months of uncertainty over the diluting of bank secrecy when its parliament finally approved legislation allowing the transfer of the names of thousands of American clients of UBS suspected of evading tax owed to the US authorities.
The decision followed days of parliamentary wrangling that had threatened to delay a crucial treaty between Bern and Washington authorising the transfer. This could have triggered a crisis in bilateral relations and threatened the future of UBS, Switzerland's largest bank.
Under the agreement, negotiated last August, Switzerland promised within a year to pass to the US authorities the names of 4,450 wealthy American UBS clients suspected of having undeclared accounts at the bank.
The bilateral agreement followed a lengthy US investigation that showed UBS had broken laws by helping Americans with offshore Swiss accounts evade tax through elaborate financial structures such as sham companies in Hong Kong and Panama.
In February 2009 UBS, the world's second-biggest wealth manager, agreed to pay $780m to settle criminal charges.
However, the US authorities pursued a linked, but separate, civil action requiring the bank to release the names of about 19,000 US clients with offshore Swiss accounts.
Differences were only resolved last August through a special treaty between Bern and Washington, in which the Swiss promised to deliver the 4,450 UBS client names within a year.
Swiss parliamentary approval then became necessary after a top Swiss court ruled this year that the Bern-Washington deal broke the country's bank secrecy law and the government should have gained parliamentary acceptance first.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eb39ff2c-7a71-11df-9cd7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1EcWCsCE2
It is a surprise that India still is still hiding behind'Secrets"
A Credit Suisse banker has been arrested in connection with a long-running US tax evasion investigation and could be one of several individuals likely to face charges this week as prosecutors turn their focus from institutions to bankers and wealthy clients, said people familiar with the matter.
Christos Bagios was arrested about two weeks ago on entering the US and is in transit to a detention centre in southern Florida, according to the Bureau of Prisons’ website and people familiar with the matter.
The arrest is part of a US government crackdown on tax evasion schemes that has shaken Swiss banking secrecy.
In 2009, the US Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service reached a landmark deal with UBS in which the Swiss bank agreed to pay $780m and turn over thousands of client names.
Switzerland yesterday ended months of uncertainty over the diluting of bank secrecy when its parliament finally approved legislation allowing the transfer of the names of thousands of American clients of UBS suspected of evading tax owed to the US authorities.
The decision followed days of parliamentary wrangling that had threatened to delay a crucial treaty between Bern and Washington authorising the transfer. This could have triggered a crisis in bilateral relations and threatened the future of UBS, Switzerland's largest bank.
Under the agreement, negotiated last August, Switzerland promised within a year to pass to the US authorities the names of 4,450 wealthy American UBS clients suspected of having undeclared accounts at the bank.
The bilateral agreement followed a lengthy US investigation that showed UBS had broken laws by helping Americans with offshore Swiss accounts evade tax through elaborate financial structures such as sham companies in Hong Kong and Panama.
In February 2009 UBS, the world's second-biggest wealth manager, agreed to pay $780m to settle criminal charges.
However, the US authorities pursued a linked, but separate, civil action requiring the bank to release the names of about 19,000 US clients with offshore Swiss accounts.
Differences were only resolved last August through a special treaty between Bern and Washington, in which the Swiss promised to deliver the 4,450 UBS client names within a year.
Swiss parliamentary approval then became necessary after a top Swiss court ruled this year that the Bern-Washington deal broke the country's bank secrecy law and the government should have gained parliamentary acceptance first.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eb39ff2c-7a71-11df-9cd7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1EcWCsCE2
It is a surprise that India still is still hiding behind'Secrets"
No comments:
Post a Comment