Hints and tips:
...In the wake of Wegelin’s demise, the US justice department launched a scheme that encouraged Swiss banks to make a clean breast of their complicity in tax evasion....
...The US tax investigation led to hefty fines for the likes of Credit Suisse and UBS, and prompted the collapse of banks Wegelin and Frey last year....
...In 2013, Switzerland’s then oldest private bank, Wegelin, was forced to close after pleading guilty to helping US citizens evade paying taxes on $1.2bn held in offshore accounts....
...US regulatory action and the imposition of fines also led to the closure of two private banks – Wegelin and Bank Frey. The fallout is not confined to Switzerland....
...Fines also forced the closure of two smaller banks, Wegelin and Bank Frey. But Mr du Pasquier expects the consolidation, triggered by the fines, to continue through both M&A activity and liquidation....
...A global crackdown on tax evasion is another costly issue, particularly in Switzerland, where US fines have already helped force two private banks – Wegelin & Co and Frey & Co – out of business....
...I loved the labels — they are unlike any others and hugely varied, although some are the kind of Victorian period pieces that a modern marketing company might seek to emulate....
...And last year, it effectively forced Switzerland’s oldest private bank, Wegelin, to close after indicting it for aiding tax fraud....
...Many observers have linked that shift with the decision by rival private bank Wegelin to close after admitting to aiding US tax fraud....
...The global crackdown on tax evasion is another costly issue, particularly in Switzerland, where US fines have already helped force two private banks – Wegelin & Co and Frey & Co – out of business, and where...
...Early last year, it forced Wegelin, the oldest Swiss private bank to close. And in October, Bank Frey, another small bank under investigation, also said it would stop doing business....
...In 2009, UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, paid $780m to settle allegations that it had helped American citizens dodge taxes, while earlier this year Wegelin, Switzerland’s oldest private bank, was forced...
...“Liability is now with the company and not with the people,” says a spokesman. “How smart is it to keep maintaining a model where you are personally liable for bits of businesses all over the world?”...
...Precisely how unique Wegelin’s activities were is hard to gauge....
...Wegelin previously forfeited $16m to the US. Wegelin said the settlement would be paid from funds specifically allocated to legal risks. The bank, which was founded in 1741, would close soon....
...In 2012 US officials indicted Wegelin bank for aiding US taxpayers in tax evasion, driving the oldest private Swiss bank out of business....
...Wegelin, Switzerland’s oldest private bank, paid only 5 per cent after being indicted by US authorities last year, though it was subsequently forced to close....
...In 2009, it forced UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, to pay a $780m fine for abetting tax evasion, and earlier this year it forced Wegelin, the country’s oldest private bank, to close after it admitted similar...
...Wegelin previously forfeited $16m to the US....
...Under Wegelin’s legal structure its partners were personally financially liable for the bank....
...concluded, Wegelin will cease to operate as a bank.”...
...He gives two main reasons for why Lombard Odier has changed to a similar limited liability model as a number of French companies from Michelin, the tyremaker, to the 176-year-old luxury goods company Hermès...
...Then, after US prosecutors indicted Wegelin, Switzerland’s oldest private bank, in February 2012, bankers also fretted that it might do the same to other lenders....
...In February last year, Wegelin, the country’s oldest bank, caused shockwaves when it became the first foreign bank to be indicted by the US authorities for aiding tax fraud....
...The intention is that the banks seek settlements and avoid the fate of Wegelin, a Swiss bank that went out of business in January after an indictment in the US....
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