Posted on 07/17/2008 12:38:04 PM PDT by Born Conservative
Federal regulators should consider revoking the US banking license of the giant Swiss Bank UBS because of its role in helping wealthy Americans evade billions of dollars in taxes, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) told ABC News today.
"I don't think that any bank that goes to the extent that UBS has gone through to avoid doing what their agreements with the United States require them to do, should be allowed to continue to do business unless they clean up their act," Levin said.
UBS's role in arranging "undeclared" accounts for an estimated 19,000 US citizens was one focus of a hearing by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Levin today. The role of the LGT bank, owned by the royal family of Liechtenstein, was also investigated.
(click here to read the full Senate investigative report)
Levin said UBS practices resulted in its U.S. clients maintaining undeclared Swiss accounts that collectively held "$18 billion dollars in assets that have been kept secret from the the IRS."
"They wanted secrecy. UBS gave them secrecy," Levin said.
Levin revealed a list of "secrecy tricks" he said the UBS bankers used to carry out their tax haven schemes.
(click here to see the secrecy tricks list)
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
-Carl-
Levin’s probably just PO’ed that he wasn’t invited to have an “undeclared account”. I bet Bubba has one!
Yeah really, did they do anything illegal? Or is Carl saying that “unfair” is now a crime.
Very interesting. Another factoid that ties into this: Former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm, former Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is a vice-chairman of UBS Investment Bank.
If it can be shown that UBS did knowingly aid account holders in violating federal tax law then would you agree that their ability to do business in the U.S. should be ended?
It’s truly frustrating that there are still way too many jerks in politics at every level all over the world, and that they keep getting re-elected anyways! Incumbency is truly the politicians best friend.
Well yes of course, but I’m not sure after reading this article that UBS did anything wrong. Guess we’ll see.
I think that Congress is the fault for allowing the loopholes. And, since they are the fault, I wonder where the money trail in relation to the legislation trail would lead?
If this is such a serious issue, the IRS should seek indictments against the people who violated the law and these names should be made public.
If that does not happen, then driving UBS out of the US market will just be a scapegoat to cover up the individuals who cheated.
I don’t care who is involved, but the people deserve to know who thinks they are above the law.
Each year, I have to provide information to the IRS on my foreign bank accounts. Anyone who fails to do that is commiting a crime and should be known and punished.
These incorrigible bastards in Congress are literally trying to destroy the US banking industry and then blame the industry for its own demise. First, they used extortionate threats (anti-”redlining” legislation) to intimidate banks into loaning money to high credit risks. Then, when the loans began to default (predictably), they went after the same banks for not adequately disclosing the risks to the borrowers (in spite of 100+ page loan documents, most of which must be personally signed). Now, the same Congress that wrote the tax code is complaining about so-called “tricks” that are completely legal under current law. Pitchforks and torches are not far behind. Or shouldn’t be.
Personal Finances Carl Levin (D-Mich) - 2006
From $2,053,455 to $2,053,455. Ranks 45th among all members of the Senate.
Carl ain't hurtin', is he? Wonder how much he pays in taxes...
And I'm not willing to proceed on Levin's say-so alone, either. But if it does turn out that they knowingly helped U.S. investors illegally avoid U.S. taxes then I think they deserve to be made an example of.
We're not talking loopholes, we're talking about deliberately violating U.S. tax laws.
There is no loop hold here. You are required by IRS to provide the account numbers of any overseas account that you have. You also have to report any corporate account that you have signature authority on. The law is very clear.
UBS knows these requirements and actively aided customers in establishing accounts and keeping them secret. They only do this for big accounts however.
Most of these people probably went to great lengths to keep their names off the accounts, even though they had control of them. They also had to route funds to them in a way that didn’t leave any tracks. They probably violated money laundering laws also.
Have at ‘em and let us know who they are.(too much to ask).
There is no loop hole here. You are required by IRS to provide the account numbers of any overseas account that you have. You also have to report any corporate account that you have signature authority on. The law is very clear.
UBS knows these requirements and actively aided customers in establishing accounts and keeping them secret. They only do this for big accounts however.
Most of these people probably went to great lengths to keep their names off the accounts, even though they had control of them. They also had to route funds to them in a way that didn’t leave any tracks. They probably violated money laundering laws also.
Have at ‘em and let us know who they are.(too much to ask).
Thanks for the list, guys! Now we underclass folks know what tricks to use to hide our hard earned money!
Being a Michigan Democrat, Carl Levin would know a thing or two about shutting down businesses.
That is why YOU should not have any foreign accounts unless they're needed for business. But your shell corporation can, and you're not lying when you say you don't. A corporation is a seperate entity, not YOU.
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