The US has threatened to sue more Swiss banks unless they hand over information on tax-dodging US taxpayers. See Thomasson, U.S. Threatens to Sue Swiss Banks, Huffington Post (Sept. 4, 2011). The article reports a letter from U.S. deputy attorney general Cole demanding that Credit Suisse hand over information by today and that nine other banks follow suit. One reason for the smaller banks--many of the US taxpayers that failed to disclose their accounts after the tax evasion charade at UBS became public simply moved their accounts from UBS to smaller Swiss banks.
Switzerland had already offered to turn over certain information that would be made available under the new treaty negotiated around the time of the UBS brouhaha, even though the treaty is still pending before the U.S. Senate.
This isn't making Swiss bankers happy. The Swiss Bankers Association is mounting a campaign to persuade the Swiss Government not to enter into further agreements with the US requiring banks to reveal more US taxpayers' hidden Swiss bank accounts. John Helprin, Swiss Bankers Oppose Another US Tax Treaty, Associated Press (Sept. 6, 2011).
The banks are under pressure from more than just the US, as the UK, Germany and France also close in on their own tax evasion problems by pressuring banks for new tax conventions. See, e.g., Kaffish, Swiss Agreement: the international ramifications, AccountancyAge.com (Sept. 1, 2011) (regarding the Swiss-UK agreement to apply withholding at just below the top rates--meaning 48% for capital gains realized in Switzerland and other types of income such as dividends and interest!).
But the UBS case in the US was the apparent first breach in the dam, leading to a special bilateral agreement that forced the Swiss government to permit disclosure of accountholders at UBS. and now Credit Suisse and others may be in line for similar treatment. The bankers want to stop it. Now. Not surprising, but one has to hope they do not succeed.
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