Thursday, February 19, 2009

Today's Fly Or Die Commerce Report: Are Swiss Bank Accounts About To Become Not-So-Secret?

Today, The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against UBS AG- a Swiss banking company. The U.S. is seeking a ruling that will require the Swiss banking giant to reveal the identity of their American customers to the IRS. Swiss bank accounts are coveted because of their anonymity. These accounts allow depositors to stash money under the radar.

According to The Wall Street Journal, just yesterday, UBS agreed to pay $780 million to the U.S., and reveal some of the identities of their customers in order to avoid prosecution for helping wealthy Americans evade taxes. However, with today's lawsuit the United States is reportedly seeking full disclosure.

It should be duly noted that not every American citizen who has a Swiss bank account has it for fraudulent reasons.

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