According to a Bloomberg report, several Swiss banks are more likely to face similar or heavier punishments for alleged offshore tax evasion following Credit Suisse Group AG's settlement with US investigators. The bank's main subsidiary on May 19 took an unprecedented step and decided to plead guilty to all charges slapped against them and agreed to pay $2.6 billion in fines.
The news agency said that another hundred or so Swiss banks and 43,000 US taxpayers had sought relief with the US Justice Department to evade prosecution for overseas tax evasion in exchange for information on how the scheme worked. It has been said that because of the information, which was subsequently compiled by the Internal Revenue Service, has helped the US government's case to pursue the tax evasion case against the 13 Swiss banks. Last week, the Swiss Finance Minister has said that the remaining cases could be resolved quickly since the end of the Credit Suisse case.
Assistant US Attorney General Kathryn Keneally said in an interview, "We will look at the facts and circumstances of each investigation to determine an appropriate penalty. It should be very clear from the Credit Suisse investigation that cooperation, or the lack thereof, is an important factor."
Among the Swiss banks which are reportedly seeking options to avoid submitting guilty pleas to tax evasion charges are Julius Baer Group Ltd., Zuercher Kantonalbank and the Swiss unit of HSBC Holdings Plc. Keneally stressed that the banks' degree of wrongdoing and its cooperation with investigators would determine their fate.
Former IRS deputy commissioner Mark Matthews, who is now a tax attorney in Washington, posits that the US will most likely offer an option that would not necessarily cause doom for the banks. He said, "It looks like DOJ has a plan in certain cases where they can get a guilty plea but not destroy the bank. I'm sure that any bank confronted with that can hardly take comfort."
