January 14th, 2015
Not that long ago, Credit Suisse AG (CSAG), the multinational financial services giant,
pleaded guilty to felony criminal charges and paid fines of US$2.6 billion for aiding and assisting U.S. taxpayers “in filing false income tax returns and other documents with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)”.
In other words, Credit Suisse helped Americans evade taxes and showed them how to take advantage of the international financial system’s inherent secrecy, even brining secret airports and elevators into the picture,
according to a U.S. Senate report.
But now that they’ve admitted to...
June 27th, 2014
On Monday, U.S. authorities are set to announce a massive $8.9 million fine on the French bank BNP Paribas. The fine is part of a deal under which the bank will pay for allegedly breaching U.S. sanctions with Iran, Sudan, and Cuba and handling $30 billion in transactions from those nations. Fines like this, even
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May 27th, 2014
Last week, Credit Suisse, a staple of the Swiss banking industry, pleaded guilty to conspiring to help US citizens "hide their wealth" for decades, in order to avoid taxes. The debate that has emerged in the wake of US Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement seems to focus on whether or not the fine—roughly US$2.6 billion—is fair. Is it high enough?
It might not be much more than a couple of
month’s earnings for this major bank. In the wake of the guilty plea, does this settlement prove the suspicion of many that...
September 17th, 2012
Switzerland's legendary banking secrecy is feeling the pressure. A series of tax treaties will make Swiss deposits more vulnerable to scrutiny from law enforcement. The treaties, specifically the German-Swiss one currently being negotiated, are far from perfect, but from the perspective of someone with a deposit in UBS or Credit Suisse, their cover is blown. You may think that this is something that will directly lead to historic prosecutions for epic-scale tax evasion, but that is unlikely. Instead, as Reuters reports, a significant portion of the $2 trillion deposited in Swiss banks are simply going to be withdrawn:
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