The war against Americans who use Swiss banks to evade taxes has
been successful, even as it has pierced the aura of the once-vaunted
Swiss banking system, which touted its secrecy.
A numbered account at a Swiss bank is hardly a guarantee of confidentiality these days. The U.S. is hardly the only country that has gone after Swiss banks in this regard. The head of one of Germany's main political parties has accused Swiss banks of "organized criminality" for helping rich Germans evade taxes and would like to see some criminal charge brought. Credit Suisse is currently under investigation by German authorities, but prosecutors want more than the clients from these banks. Increasingly, they are seeking the names of employees of Swiss banks--such as the Swiss unit of HSBC, Credit Swiss and others--as well as a wide range of identifying information (including copies of passports), with the idea that some of them might someday be charged with facilitating mass tax evasion.
So far, at least five banks have supplied e-mails and telephone records containing as many as 10,000 names to the Department of Justice, according to one Geneva- based lawyer interviewed by Reuters. Swiss banks are eager to settle the many probes in this area, and are apparently willing to provide the names, to the chagrin of employees. The banks say that most employees have nothing to fear, as they worked by the book.
But that's not enough to inspire confidence in many. One HSBC executive said he was afraid he would be arrested if he set foot in the U.S.
A numbered account at a Swiss bank is hardly a guarantee of confidentiality these days. The U.S. is hardly the only country that has gone after Swiss banks in this regard. The head of one of Germany's main political parties has accused Swiss banks of "organized criminality" for helping rich Germans evade taxes and would like to see some criminal charge brought. Credit Suisse is currently under investigation by German authorities, but prosecutors want more than the clients from these banks. Increasingly, they are seeking the names of employees of Swiss banks--such as the Swiss unit of HSBC, Credit Swiss and others--as well as a wide range of identifying information (including copies of passports), with the idea that some of them might someday be charged with facilitating mass tax evasion.
So far, at least five banks have supplied e-mails and telephone records containing as many as 10,000 names to the Department of Justice, according to one Geneva- based lawyer interviewed by Reuters. Swiss banks are eager to settle the many probes in this area, and are apparently willing to provide the names, to the chagrin of employees. The banks say that most employees have nothing to fear, as they worked by the book.
But that's not enough to inspire confidence in many. One HSBC executive said he was afraid he would be arrested if he set foot in the U.S.
Read more: Prosecutors seek names of Swiss bank employees - FierceFinance http://www.fiercefinance.com/story/prosecutors-seek-names-swiss-bank-employees/2012-08-17?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss#ixzz25K1Xh3Bq
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