Swiss bank Wegelin to close after US tax evasion fine

[Judi Lynn]

Source: BBC News

4 January 2013 Last updated at 00:17 ET
Swiss bank Wegelin to close after US tax evasion fine

Switzerland's oldest bank is to close permanently after pleading guilty in a New York court to helping Americans evade their taxes.

Wegelin, which was established in 1741, has also agreed to pay $57.8m (£36m; 44m euros) in fines to US authorities.

It said that once this was completed, it "will cease to operate as a bank".

The bank had admitted to allowing more than 100 American citizens to hide $1.2bn from the Internal Revenue Service for almost 10 years.

Wegelin, based in the small Swiss town of St Gallen, started in business 35 years before the US declaration of independence.


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20907359

[grahamhgreen]

1. Who is going to jail? Who are the 100 Americans?

[Judi Lynn]

3. Right. Those names SHOULD be released. n/t

[closeupready]

7. Switzerland has no extradition policy with the US, IIRC.

And likely those 100 Americans paid for the 2009 IRS amnesty.

While many would like to know who was hiding assets there, there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that anyone will find out since they are likely very big people.

[defacto7]

2. and what bank will be born in it's place? New name?

Sounds a little empty and abrupt to me.

[silvershadow]

4. Yeah, I'm with you. THey will probably be BK, even if it's just to limit liabilities.

The principals who escape jail etc will probably be in businesses even before they find out for sure they are out of the woods. I hate to be to cynical, but it's basically true these days it seems.

[2pooped2pop]

5. wouldn't it be grand if

all of the money in those accounts just disappeared? That would be so much icing for my cake. All the rich fuckers hording the money and hiding it in foreign accts, only to wake up one day to find it just gone.

that would be cool. As a matter of fact, I wish all rich motherfuckers would wake up poorer than poor one day.

[Octafish]

9. That would make an outstanding reality series.

"Busted."

The camera would follow a guy, cough Donald, or gal, cough Paris, would wake up with nada and have to make it through the day. To finish each episode on a high note, perhaps the week's subject could find work in a fast food restaurant.

The hoi poloi would have a blast.

[a kennedy]

6. Am kicking this for the morning crew.....

those names SHOULD be published......d*mn.

[snot]

8. Great. Next question: what about its senior execs.?

Did they get to keep their salaries and bonuses? And are they being allowed to move on to another bank?

[BlueStreak]

10. The Swiss are at the forefront of economic warfare with the US. When do we send the Cruise missiles?

Isn't it interesting where we use our military might? We go after the places that have lots of oil and other resources. But look at what Switzerland has done to us. It is estimated that Americans are hiding more than $30 TRILLION in money hidden from taxes -- flat out tax evasion. And a pig chuck of that is undoubtedly harbored by Switzerland. I haven't seen any reliable estimates of what that costs the Treasury, but it seem reasonable to expect the Swiss-based tax evasion has cost the US Treasury at least 2 0r 3 TRILLION in tax revenue.

Yet nobody ever would think of invading Switzerland!? Why is that?

Put them on the list of state-sponsored terrorists -- economic terrorists -- until they shut down all these criminal operations and give us the names and bank balances for ever one of those tax cheats.

[Auntie Bush]

11. Wouldn't it be nice to find Romney hid some of his money in the Swiss Wegelin Bank.

We should be able to use those fines toward the national debt...or toward paying back some of the SS funds we borrowed.