<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19120"></HEAD>
<BODY style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 15px"
id=MailContainerBody leftMargin=0 topMargin=0 CanvasTabStop="true"
name="Compose message area">
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>
<DIV id=fb-root></DIV>
<DIV class=header>
<DIV class=left><A href="http://www.nytimes.com/"><IMG
title="http://www.nytimes.com/ CTRL + Click to follow link" border=0
hspace=0 alt="The New York Times" align=left
src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/nytlogo153x23.gif"></A>
<NYT_REPRINTS_FORM>
<LI class=reprints>
<FORM name=cccform
action=https://s100.copyright.com/CommonApp/LoadingApplication.jsp
target=_Icon></FORM></LI></DIV>
<DIV class=right> </DIV></DIV><BR clear=all>
<HR align=left SIZE=1>
<DIV class=timestamp>August 16, 2011</DIV>
<DIV class=kicker></DIV>
<H1><NYT_HEADLINE version="1.0" type=" ">Swiss Banks, Aiding and
Abetting</NYT_HEADLINE></H1><NYT_BYLINE></NYT_BYLINE><NYT_TEXT>
<DIV id=articleBody><NYT_CORRECTION_TOP></NYT_CORRECTION_TOP>
<P>Despite all of the I.R.S.’s efforts, wealthy American tax cheats are still
able to hide their money because Swiss banks are still eager to help them. </P>
<P>An indictment disclosed earlier this month by the United States attorney in
Manhattan noted that when the Swiss bank UBS — under strong pressure from
Washington — abandoned the secret account business, one of its bankers left,
taking with him several clients for whom he then opened secret accounts at five
other Swiss banks. Another indictment claims that a Swiss financial adviser who
managed secret funds for American clients moved accounts from UBS to two private
Swiss banks. </P>
<P>Both advisers are accused of using shady tactics, like opening phony
businesses in Hong Kong and fake foundations in Liechtenstein to conceal the
money from the Internal Revenue Service. The banks, which are not named in the
indictments, were not accused in the fraud because the advisers gave them false
documents stating that the account owners were not American. But the banks did
have information that could have alerted them to the accounts’ ownership had
they done better due diligence. </P>
<P>These indictments follow the disclosure by Credit Suisse that it was the
target of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department into how Swiss
institutions assisted American income tax evaders. The cases underscore how
deeply Swiss banks rely on tax evasion. </P>
<P>The United States government, which fined UBS $780 million and forced it to
reveal data on 4,450 American customers, is reportedly negotiating a global
agreement with the Swiss government that could result in a hefty collective fine
against these banks. Switzerland is again resisting demands for more information
about American clients. Washington should not stop pushing until all Swiss banks
hand over their files and close those accounts. </P><NYT_CORRECTION_BOTTOM>
<DIV
class=articleCorrection></DIV></NYT_CORRECTION_BOTTOM><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM></NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM></DIV></NYT_TEXT>
<DIV id=upNextWrapper>
<DIV style="RIGHT: -410px" id=upNext>
<DIV class="wrapper opposingFloatControl">___________________________<BR
style="CLEAR: both"></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>Wayne A. Fox<BR><A
href="mailto:wayne.a.fox@gmail.com">wayne.a.fox@gmail.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>