ZURICH: The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking “total cooperation” from Swiss banks in a draft agreement aimed at allowing the banks to make amends for aiding tax evasion by wealthy Americans, a Swiss newspaper reported yesterday.
About 100 Swiss banks signed up to work with US authorities at the end of last year in a programme brokered by the Swiss government. That followed criminal investigations of roughly a dozen Swiss banks in the US.
Under the programme so-called category two banks — those that have reason to believe they may have committed tax offences — will escape prosecution if they detail their wrongdoing with US clients and pay fines. These banks have now received a draft non-prosecution agreement from the US, which would require them to report in full to US authorities any information or knowledge of activity relating to US tax, the Neue Zuercher Zeitung said, citing unnamed banking sources.
These requirements would also apply to parent companies, subsidiaries, management, workers and external advisors, the NZZ reported. Reuters
