On Thursday, French Finance and Economy Minister Christine Lagarde (photo), signed a double taxation deal with Swiss Finance Minister and President Hans-Rudolf Merz to allow an exchange of information to help catch tax dodgers.
A former American banker at Swiss banking giant UBS was been sentenced to three years and four months in prison by a US federal court Friday. The banker helped wealthy US clients evade taxes.
The Swiss government said Wednesday that UBS, Europe's largest bank, will hand over details of 4,450 accounts to US authorities according to the settlement of the US tax-fraud case.
The US government announced on Tuesday a criminal investigation of more than 150 American customers suspected of hiding assets in the Swiss bank UBS. An out-of-court settlement between the USA and UBS is to be signed on Wednesday.
Switzerland’s UBS, Europe’s largest bank, and the US government are due to be sign an out-of-court settlement on Wednesday. UBS was accused of violating US law in promoting offshore accounts for American citizens.
A California-based UBS client has pleaded guilty to one count of failing to file an annual report to the US Treasury Department amid reports that the Swiss bank helped clients set up companies in Hong Kong to hide money from US tax authorities.
Liechtenstein and Britain have signed an agreement to encourage British clients with secret accounts in the Alpine principality to voluntarily disclose billions of pounds of untaxed money.The deal affects about 5,000 investors.
UBS and the US government have reached agreement in principle on the "major issues" in a tax secrecy case. The trial that the US Government initiated against the Swiss bank for the identities of Americans holding offshore accounts will be delayed.
