Swiss private banks Privatbank Reichmuth & Co, Banque Cantonale du Jura (BCJ) and Banca Intermobiliare di Investimenti e Gestioni (Suisse) (BIM Suisse) have reached resolutions with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over the tax evasion cases under the department’s Swiss bank programme.
The programme requires Swiss firms to reveal how they helped wealthy American citizens evade taxes.
Under the deal, Privatbank Reichmuth will pay $2.59m and BCJ will pay $970,000 in penalties to the US to avoid prosecution over allegations accusing them of helping Americans evade taxes, while BIM Suisse has avoided financial penalty.
Under the deal, the three banks have agreed to cooperate in any related criminal or civil proceedings and demonstrate implementation of controls to prevent misconduct.
The DoJ said that Reichmuth maintained and serviced 103 US related accounts with a maximum aggregate assets of $281m since 2008.
The bank opened and maintained undeclared numbered or code name accounts for individual US customers and held statements and other mail at its offices in Switzerland.
The BCJ had 18 US clients with a total of 118 US related accounts involving a total sum of $10m.
The department added that BIM Suisse closed 13 of its 16 US related accounts between 1 August 2008 and May 2015. The bank had only three US related accounts as of July 2015, and none of those accounts remain undisclosed to the US tax authorities.
IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) chief Richard Weber said: "Taxpayers with offshore accounts continue to come forth voluntarily to make things right with the IRS. Through the Swiss Bank Program and the tremendous volume of information these banks are providing, the IRS will continue to identify and bring to justice those who would evade U.S. tax laws."
