Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a senior executive with the Swiss banking giant UBS, for conspiring with fellow bankers and wealthy clients to evade U.S. taxes. The news was announced by the Department of Justice today in a press release which did not mention UBS by name.
According to the indcitment, filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, Raoul Weil, a top wealth management executive with the company, mandated that bankers under his supervision take various steps to conceal from the IRS assets worth about $20 billion, belonging to about 20,000 U.S. clients.
The Wall Street Journal adds an interesting note:
U.S. authorities are negotiating with the Swiss government to gain access to the names of UBS’s American clients, a move that could puncture centuries of secrecy surrounding Swiss banking.