Swiss Banks May Pay Fines to Avoid Tax Evasion Prosecution

Reuters has reported that the United States and Switzerland have reached an agreement to permit some Swiss banks to pay fines to avoid or defer prosecution in connection with tax evasion by their U.S. customers. The agreement would do much to resolve the long-running dispute between the two countries.

The deal would apply to about 100 second-tier Swiss banks.  Those banks could be required to divulge some previously secret financial information and the would face penalties of up to 50 percent of assets they managed on behalf of wealthy American tax dodgers.

The reported agreement would not cover banks already under U.S. criminal investigation, which include some of Switzerland's biggest banks such as Credit Suisse and Julius Baer.

According to the Reuters report, "the deal is a step forward in a long-running U.S. drive to pierce the shroud of Swiss bank secrecy, though analysts said it was too early to say how much the Swiss banks would have to pay or how much extra revenue would flow to the United States."

For more, read http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-usa-tax-switzerland-20130829,0,4868203.story.