Financial Transparency Coalition

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada could pursue Swiss bank UBS (UBSN.VX) in court if bank officials refuse to disclose the names of Canadian clients who are evading taxes using UBS accounts, but even the government minister responsible believes stronger laws may be needed.

Bloomberg -- Deutsche Bank AG, Commerzbank AG and Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie. defended international activities after Die Zeit reported German lenders are “deeply involved” in business with tax havens.

WASHINGTON - A federal court in Newark, N.J., denied Schering-Plough Corp. a $473 million refund in connection with two transactions in which Schering-Plough sought to avoid taxation on $690 million in profits it repatriated from offshore subsidiaries into the United States.

As the Tax Justice Network notes:

Tucked away low down in an article in the August edition of the Swiss review, there is this:

“Switzerland has become a paradise for foreign capital on which tax is not paid. The uproar from foreign governments is understandable.”

These are not the words of a critic of the banks, but of private banker Konrad Hummler. He says that around 30%, or CHF 1,000 billion, of the CHF 2,800 billion or so of foreign assets in Swiss banks is untaxed “black money”.

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