US DOJ+IRS v UBS

[ionelv]

UBS is back in the news. They refuse to divulge the names of 52,000 Americans that have deposits with them. It's an interesting conundrum for the Swiss bankers - comply with American law or Swiss law:

The dispute between UBS and the United States has escalated into a diplomatic drama and has threatened to pierce the veil of Swiss financial secrecy. UBS and the Swiss government have said they will not disclose client names, even if ordered by a judge, because doing so would violate Swiss laws governing financial secrecy and subject UBS executives to prosecution in Switzerland.

This is a classic case of "some are more equal than others": the Joes and Janes that can't afford a Swiss bank account have to pay taxes till they bleed, while a few can evade taxes by simply parking it off-shore out of IRS's and DOJ's reach. Although, IRS did manage to ferret 250 names out of the Swiss back in the winter, watch closely as the DOJ and IRS file their teeth on this one...

Comments

[ionelv.livejournal.com]

I might have to eat my hat: UBS agreed to release more than 4500 names to IRS/DOJ (http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/ubs-said-to-be-set-to-disclose-about-5000-clients/?scp=2&sq=ubs&st=cse) without breaking either US or Swiss law.

[ionelv.livejournal.com]

The Swiss Parliament had to ratify a change in the US-Swiss tax treaty (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/business/global/18ubs.html) so the rest of up to 4500 American account details can be turned over to the US authorities. I wonder how much will the US recover in back taxes from this forray and how much money and effort will have been spent to plug one tax loophole.