Credit Suisse will disclose names of U.S. clients

[Dover]

Source: Reuters

Reuters) - Credit Suisse AG, Switzerland's second-largest bank, has begun notifying certain U.S. clients suspected of offshore tax evasion that it intends to turn over their names to the Internal Revenue Service, with the help of Swiss tax authorities.

Credit Suisse's notification by letter, a copy of which was obtained on Monday by Reuters, says the handover of names and account details will take place following a recent formal request for the information by the IRS.

The move by Credit Suisse to disclose American client names and account information is the latest twist in a showdown between Switzerland and the United States over the battered tradition of Swiss bank secrecy.

U.S. authorities, who suspect tens of thousands of wealthy Americans of evading billions of dollars in taxes through Swiss private banks in recent years, are conducting a widening criminal investigation into scores of Swiss banks, including Credit Suisse.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/08/us-creditsuisse-tax-disclosure-idUSTRE7A70NJ20111108

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Related stories from last week:


Swiss offer U.S. tax deal for all Swiss banks

Reuters - The government of Switzerland has proposed a multibillion-dollar settlement with U.S. authorities over allegations that it helped wealthy Americans avoid billions of dollars in U.S. taxes, according to sources briefed on the matter.

The proposed civil settlement, put forward in recent months by Swiss authorities to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, would cover all banks in Switzerland, numbering about 355, sources briefed on the matter said. It could reach $10 billion or more, said a source briefed on the matter.

The deal would include some 11 banks now under criminal investigation -- among them Credit Suisse AG(CSGN.VX) and HSBC Holdings PLC(HSBA.L) -- by the U.S. Justice Department, which suspects them of having enabled wealthy Americans to hide billions of dollars in assets in offshore accounts. Some experts view the deal as a long shot, in the face of an unprecedented crackdown by U.S. authorities. ...cont'd

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/03/us-usa-taxes-swiss-idUSTRE7A27RC20111103

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No Swiss payment offer over U.S. tax probe

Reuters - Switzerland has not offered a financial settlement to end a U.S. tax investigation into a number of Swiss banks but remains willing to hand over bank client names as part of any deal, a government spokesman said on Friday.

Basler Kantonalbank, Credit Suisse and Julius Baer are among 11 Swiss banks under investigation in connection with allegations they helped Americans dodge taxes.

The government has been in talks with U.S. authorities for months to seek a deal to get investigations dropped in return for payment of fines and the transfer of names of clients suspected of tax evasion.

Switzerland reached a deal with the U.S. authorities in 2009 for UBS to pay a fine of $780 million and reveal details of around 4,450 clients, averting criminal charges.

cont'd
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/04/us-switzerland-tax-idUSTRE7A325D20111104

[gateley]

1. Is nothing sacred? That's in, I'm moving my money! nt

[rhett o rick]

5. The only moving my money is getting is from me to my creditors. nm

[OnyxCollie]

2. K&R. nt

[jberryhill]

3. We should all organize to move our accounts out of Swiss Banks!

[rhett o rick]

6. Are you being sarcastic? Doubt if any of the 99% have money in Swiss Banks. nm

[jberryhill]

7. Fastest boycott ever

Good job!

[Xithras]

12. That's completely untrue.

Lots of middle class people have money in European accounts, stored in Euros. I did for years, as a hedge against an economic crash (if the value of the US dollar were obliterated, Euro's would hopefully retain more of their value). Given the slow depreciation of the American dollar, the storing money in Euro's actually made me more money than collecting interest on American dollars in a U.S. savings account for a while there. Americans who work overseas or travel to Europe on a regular basis for work also often find it useful to have European bank accounts.

Sure, we may not have those fancy anonymous numbered accounts that the Swiss are famous for, but lots of us do have accounts overseas. Technically I still do, but there's only about €150 in it right now. My guess would be that MOST of the Americans who hold overseas accounts ARE 99%ers, though most of the actual overseas money likely belongs to the 1%.

[russspeakeasy]

8. I'll move mine tomorrow...the whole system will probably crash.

Like most seniors, I have my social security check deposited directly to a Swiss bank.

[stockholmer]

4. this is going to cause further blowback for the 7 to 8 million Americans living outside of the US as

well. Many of these people are hardly 'international tax evaders', they are simply workers for US corporations, or are married/living with a foreign spouse. Multiple countries have already stopped allowing US citizens from opening regular bank accounts even if the American has lived and worked there for years. The reverse is also happening, wherein US banks are denying Americans banking accounts simply because they have an overseas address. The US is still one of only a small handful of countries in the entire world that collects income tax on foreign-earned salaries (after an exemption), even if you pay taxes in the country you work in.

http://aaro.org/denied-bank-accounts

http://www.panamalaw.org/UBS_closing_accounts_of_americans.html

http://www.vrl-financial-news.com/wealth-management/private-banker-intl/issues/pbi-2011/pbi-275/hsbc-halts-offshore-service-to.aspx

[MADem]

9. Isn't that exemption pretty substantial, though?

And takes into account the taxes paid to the foreign country?

In my experience, most foreign workers I've known (and I was one, eons ago) maintained an address in the US--a mail forwarding arrangement at a mailbox-type place, if one didn't have a relative to do the same sort of thing for free.

[Octafish]

10. Did Credit Suisse get U.S. bailout money?

I know UBS -- Sen. Phil Gramm's new gig -- did.

[hughee99]

11. I wonder if anywhere in the letter the phrase

"so now might be your last chance to get your money out" appears anywhere in this letter. I'm sure most of the people with substantial holding in these banks have long since moved their money elsewhere.