UBS Group AG agreed to pay $5.11 billion to resolve U.S. investigation into Credit Suisse Group's idea of how Suisse Group helps wealthy evade taxes even if it promises to stop customary practices a decade ago.
The Justice Department said the Credit Suisse pleaded guilty to conspiring to help its clients hide more than $4 billion in domestic tax services in at least 475 offshore accounts. The United States also filed criminal charges related to US accounts booked in Credit Suisse AG, which will be dismissed if the bank cooperates sufficiently.
The resolution ended a long-standing scandal involving Credit Suisse, which used Swiss bank secrecy laws to help Americans hide money from the IRS for decades. Prosecutors said Monday that the bank violated a 2014 plea agreement that promises to reveal and disclose our accounts to tax officials.
“UBS is not involved in basic behavior and has zero tolerance for tax evasion,” the bank said in a statement, noting that it hopes to recognize group-level credit from the partial releases received by Credit Suisse.
The Zurich-based bank also said it hopes to be related to the agreement in the second quarter.
Donald Trump's Justice Department settlement comes after prosecutors under former President Joe Biden failed to resolve the case despite promises to combat duplicate corporate criminals.
The 2023 Senate Finance Committee report said the pressure exerted after Credit Suisse’s 2014 plea agreement “major breach”, and the bank failed to fully disclose U.S. assets despite the bank’s “thousands of previously unannounced accounts” for more than $1.3 billion.
The report details how Credit Suisse has caused American business professor Dan Horsky to plead guilty in 2016 to cover up the IRS's more than $200 million in assets.
It also details how banks can help dual citizens of the United States and Latin American countries evade taxes. The whistleblower told the committee that family members held in Credit Suisse for nearly a decade and then transferred the assets to other banks without telling the IRS.
Jeffrey Neiman, the whistleblower's attorney, said that despite the risk posed to them, their evidence “discovered and exposed this ongoing misconduct.”
“Today, they feel defended – to be honest, risk everything and stand in one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world.”
On March 10, Florida businesswoman and Credit Suisse client Gilda Rosenberg pleaded guilty to conspiring with two family members to hide $90 million from the IRS between 2010 and 2017. She admitted that she had conspired to deceive the United States, evade taxes, and did not file a foreign bank account report, also known as the FBARS. Court documents show that her family had about 15 accounts in Credit Suisse between 1979 and 2013.
The tax solution comes after UBS received a critical regulatory exemption after it managed a critical regulatory exemption for U.S. pension funds, despite four convictions between UBS and Credit Suisse. On January 15, the Labor Department approved its position as a so-called qualified professional asset manager for five years.
UBS notice in the Federal Gazette shows that despite the Labor Department noted that UBS still pointed out that “the scope, seriousness and recurring nature of the misconduct of UBS ban” is unique. The agency cites the need for an independent annual audit to ensure UBS complies with “applicable trust regulations” and “a strong culture of compliance.”
Since Credit Suisse pleaded guilty in 2014, other U.S. clients of the bank have also been charged with tax cases. Among them is Dan Rotta, a Brazilian-American businessman, who pleaded guilty on March 17 to use banks including Credit Suisse to hide millions of dollars in assets in U.S. tax authorities.
The Justice Department said the agreement provided no protection for individuals, indicating that there may be new cases.
UBS said in its first quarter report that it stipulates potential costs associated with Credit Suisse's compliance with the 2014 plea agreement. It did not disclose the amount.
Bloomberg Intelligence Analysis estimated earlier this month that more than a quarter of the group's $3.85 billion legal reserves were various U.S. credit cases as of the end of March. UBS also has $2 billion in lawsuits, regulations and similar matters to Credit Suisse purchase debt.
In a new review of the history of Credit Suisse processing of Nazi linked accounts, the solution was carried out. In December, the bank restored Neil Barofsky to an independent ombudsman to oversee the review of these accounts. The decision was announced by the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, which has been investigating Credit Suisse’s internal investigations.
“The assessment of Credit Suisse's services for Nazi-linked accounts requires painful facts, not swept away,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island, said in a statement at the time.
With the assistance of Sabrina Willmer.
This article was generated from the Automation News Agency feed without the text being modified.
