There’s lots of scuttlebutt in the mainstream press – and beyond – about how bank secrecy is dead. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, “The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
To be sure, there’s an element of truth to this assertion. Thanks to laws like the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), for instance, every non-US financial institution in the world must now identify their US clients. And once they do, they must share details of those clients’ transactions with the IRS.
So, it’s safe to say that if you’re a US citizen, offshore bank secrecy no longer exists when it comes to the IRS. But it’s certainly not dead for other purposes, and a recent case out of Switzerland proves my point.
Late last month, a Swiss court sentenced Hervé Falciani, a former employee of HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm, to a five-year prison term. The criminal conviction under Swiss law was for aggravated industrial espionage, data theft, and violation of commercial and banking secrecy. Full story...
Related posts:
To be sure, there’s an element of truth to this assertion. Thanks to laws like the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), for instance, every non-US financial institution in the world must now identify their US clients. And once they do, they must share details of those clients’ transactions with the IRS.
So, it’s safe to say that if you’re a US citizen, offshore bank secrecy no longer exists when it comes to the IRS. But it’s certainly not dead for other purposes, and a recent case out of Switzerland proves my point.
Late last month, a Swiss court sentenced Hervé Falciani, a former employee of HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm, to a five-year prison term. The criminal conviction under Swiss law was for aggravated industrial espionage, data theft, and violation of commercial and banking secrecy. Full story...
Related posts:
- 'Thousands' of political heavyweights hold Swiss accounts...
- 2 Swiss banks to end 200-yr secrecy and publish financials...
- Credit Suisse pleads guilty to criminal charges in US tax evasion settlement...
- Switzerland, Singapore join clampdown on bank secrecy...
- Swiss banks are quietly warning wealthy U.S. clients with secret accounts to...
- "Some 1,000 Swiss bankers no longer dare to go to the United States, or
- End of Swiss bank secrecy, black money information to be shared...
- Swiss banks face hefty fines under US tax deal...
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