Financial Transparency Coalition

The Wall Street Journal has run an Op Ed by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., a member of its editorial board. Published under the title “Does the World Still Need the Swiss? : UBS’s sin was marketing secrecy too broadly.” I am struggling to work out whether it is mad, bad or just plain stupid. The hypothesis is this: that in the World War 2, more by luck than judgement the bank secrecy that the Swiss created to assist tax evaders in France helped the Jews. Of course, it also helped the Nazis: the Swiss were entirely amoral on...

Last week as the UBS settlement was announced and (metaphorically speaking) copious amounts of bourbon were drunk in panic at many of the 4,450 homes where U.S. account holders rest their heads (for now), a producer for a well known news program called to ask if I would appear to discuss the issue. After noting that I would, he wondered if I knew of anyone who might take a view opposite of mine. I gave the producer two leads but was told later that neither panned out and, since they could not provide a balanced view of...

ZURICH (Dow Jones)--Swiss private bank Wegelin & Co. said Tuesday it is telling American clients to exit U.S. securities given heightened Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of tax dodgers.

Bloomberg -- If he had kept his mouth shut and his head low, Bradley Birkenfeld would be a free man today. He didn’t, so now the former UBS AG banker wears an electronic bracelet on his ankle and, beginning in January, will spend three years and four months in a federal penitentiary.