Spiegelonline.de and the Zeit report that several swiss banks will part from their US clients after allegations were made that the banks aided their clients with tax fraud.
UBS, who had to hand over data from 250 US-client accounts and paid over $780 million in penalties after a trial in February, is one of the first banks that cancels accounts with US ties. Until February, unwanted clients were able to withdraw their money in cash. To guarantee better transparency and traceability of the money, most of the swiss banks will now only transfer the assets to another bank account. The banks are apparently not only canceling accounts of US customers, but also of swiss nationals who live in the United States or are married to a US citizen.
UBS will most likely face another trial in Florida this year and it is expected that the bank will have to hand over data from another 52.000 accounts. The swiss government had tried to prevent this trial by offering the US government a new bilateral double taxation agreement, but the US showed no interest in withdrawing the suit against USB.
The affected customers receive a notice, asking them to find another bank within 45 days. Unwilling customers who will not withdraw their money will then receive a check.
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