UBS Is Closing Down Accounts
U.S. Clients at Risk of Exposure
By David S. Hilzenrath, Washington Post Staff Writer
Swiss banking giant UBS, under investigation by the U.S. government for allegedly helping Americans hide money from the Internal Revenue Service, is closing thousands of accounts, putting clients at greater risk of being exposed, tax lawyers say.
UBS clients have been receiving calls and letters telling them that their Swiss accounts will soon be liquidated. Those who have concealed funds from the IRS have two basic choices: They can take new and potentially difficult steps to hide the money, heightening their risk of being caught and punished severely, or they can come clean, lawyers say.
The backdrop for UBS’s action is that the U.S. government has been pressing UBS and the Swiss government to disclose the names of thousands of Americans with undeclared accounts, while the Swiss have vowed to uphold Swiss legal protections for bank clients.
However, as a practical matter, whether or not the Swiss formally give up the names, UBS’s decision to close the accounts undermines Switzerland’s legendary code of bank secrecy, lawyers said.
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UBS Executive Weil Charged by U.S. in Tax Conspiracy
By Carlyn Kolker and Ryan J. Donmoyer
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) — A top UBS AG official was indicted by a U.S. grand jury on one charge of conspiring to help 20,000 wealthy Americans hide assets from the Internal Revenue Service to maintain a “profitable” business for the Swiss bank.
Raoul Weil, 48, chairman of global wealth management at UBS in Zurich, was indicted Nov. 6 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, according to court papers unsealed today. His bank continued to help American clients evade taxes with false documents after agreeing in 2001 to identify account holders and tell the IRS about their income, the U.S. alleged.“Weil and other executives would not implement effective restrictions on the United States cross-border business because the business was too profitable for the Swiss bank,” according to the indictment, which identifies other, unnamed UBS executives as unindicted co-conspirators.
The Justice Department has been probing whether the bank helped Americans evade taxes and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether it failed to register as a broker-dealer or investment adviser. In June, former UBS private banker Bradley Birkenfeld pleaded guilty to helping a California billionaire dodge taxes and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
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