News & Events

In a blow to the Swiss tradition of banking secrecy, the Swiss Parliament voted today to allow UBS AG to carry out its agreement with the U.S. government. Under the terms of the agreement, UBS promised to disclose the identities of U.S. taxpayers with hidden accounts at the Swiss bank. In exchange, the U.S. government agreed to not prosecute UBS for its role in assisting U.S. tax evaders. UBS plans to disclose the names and account details of 4,450 accounts held by US citizens suspected of tax evasion.

In what is seen as a blow to the famous Swiss banking secrecy laws, the Swiss Parliament resolved its split over the UBS account information disclosure issue when the lower house voted on June 15th to effectively overturn the Swiss court’s ruling that was temporarily blocking the agreement between UBS and the U.S. government.  Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. government agreed to not prosecute UBS for its actions in assisting US tax evaders if UBS disclosed the names and account details of its 4,450 largest accounts held by US citizens suspected of tax evasion.

The Swiss Parliament has resolved its split over the UBS account information disclosure issue.

Lower and Upper house of the Swiss Parliament disagree on UBS U.S. accountholder disclosure.

Kevin E. Thorn will be giving the UBS Offshore Account Update on Voluntary Disclosures at the upcoming ABA Tax Section, Civil & Criminal Penalties Committee Meeting in Washington, DC.