Swiss Bank to Hand Over Account Info

Swiss bank accounts aren’t what they used to be. Switzerland recently agreed to fork over information on 4,450 UBS AG bank accounts to the IRS as an investigation into suspected tax evasion threatens the good name that Swiss banking has had in the eyes of money launderers and tax evaders for centuries.

Reuters:

Switzerland has agreed to hand over details of about 4,450 UBS AG bank accounts to U.S. authorities to settle a tax dispute that challenged Swiss banking secrecy and now threatens to spill over to other banks.

With Switzerland’s famed banking secrecy under fire, the Swiss have also agreed to process requests by the United States seeking information from its banks besides UBS about account holders who may have tried to evade U.S. taxes.

“This announcement today should send a signal—no matter what institution you’re with, the IRS is willing to pursue both the institution and the individual,” Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman told reporters on Wednesday.

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bloomberg.com

In the wake of the UBS deal, other Swiss banks fret that the U.S. taxman’s spotlight may now fall on them.