Rich Americans Sue UBS

February 26, 2009 by Pegagus Pendrean

UBS Rich Americans Sue UBS - A group of nearly a dozen wealthy American clients have sued UBS in a Swiss court on Tuesday, in an effort to prevent the disclosure of their identities as part of a tax-evasion investigation by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

UBS is the world’s largest private bank and Switzerland is the world’s largest offshore tax haven, with trillions of dollars in assets.

Tax evasion is not considered a crime in Switzerland. However, disclosing client names is a criminal offense under Swiss law and can expose bank executives and officers to fines, prison terms and other penalties.

The lawsuit accuses UBS and Switzerland’s financial regulator, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or Finma, of violating Swiss bank secrecy laws and of conducting what Swiss law considers illegal activities with foreign authorities. It also named Peter Kurer, the chairman of UBS, and Eugen Haltiner, the chairman of Finma, as defendants.

The suit stems from UBS’s agreement last week to turn over to U.S. authorities the names of 250 wealthy Americans suspected of using secret UBS offshore accounts and entities to evade taxes. See our previuus article…UBS Admits Tax Evasion Scheme

The suit, filed by a lawyer in Zurich, Andreas Rued, underscores the growing clash between Swiss banking secrecy laws and those of the United States. Mr. Rued could not be reached for comment.