Category: Offshore Banking

RBS staff under investigation from German authorities over Swiss tax evasion

Disclosure in bank’s annual results about Coutts comes as it reports seventh consecutive loss Royal Bank of Scotland was dragged into the Swiss tax evasion scandal on Thursday when it emerged that the taxpayer-owned company’s private bank is under investigation for helping wealthy clients evade tax. The small print of… – Continue reading

US citizens in Greece and US taxes: A word to the wise, and a seminar

It is estimated that there are at least 100,000 Greeks with American citizenship living in Greece. In addition, thousands of US citizens live and work in Greece, either on a short-term or permanent basis. According to US law, all of these citizens, with very few exceptions, are required to file… – Continue reading

FIU not investigating US$54.8 mil in Swiss accounts

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 23, 2015–It’s far easier to move money from Belize via an offshore company than to deposit those funds in a local commercial bank, especially with more stringent banking requirements which have been implemented as part of the new anti-money laundering regime here in Belize. If a… – Continue reading

Was Bank Leumi too hasty in revealing U.S. clients’ info to the IRS?

The issue of whether Israeli banks should take the Swiss approach and refuse to disclose customer identities may be a moot point, in light of a new international anti-tax-evasion treaty that is taking shape. There is a direct line connecting the disclosure of the identities of 6,200 Israelis with Swiss… – Continue reading

HSBC Says Gulliver Paid Taxes After Opening Swiss Account

(Bloomberg) — HSBC Holdings Plc, struggling to contain a political storm over the bank’s facilitation of tax evasion through its Swiss unit, said Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver paid taxes after setting up his own Swiss account and keeping his legal residence in Hong Kong. The bank, reacting to an… – Continue reading

For Bigger Bank Dividends, It Could Pay to Go International

Following the financial crisis, dividend yields from American banks have remained below the level many income investors are looking for. While all four major American banks yield less than 3%, U.S. investors can still get fat bank dividends by looking abroad. The United Kingdom London has long been a financial… – Continue reading

Pakistan’s finance minister rejects allegations of tax evasion

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has rejected allegations by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader that he transferred $4 million to his son in Dubai to avoid taxes. In an open letter to the PTI chairman Imran Khan, the finance minister also refuted the claim that he has been dragging his… – Continue reading

HSBC whistle-blower: You have to know how banks work to understand the size of this scandal

Hervè Falciani, the former HSBC employee who became a whistle-blower by handing over details of client bank accounts to French authorities, triggering investigations into money laundering and tax evasion, believes many other banks are involved in similar practises. In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Falciani said that… – Continue reading

Revenue collects €1bn from special investigations

Probes since 2001 into offshore accounts include €4.6m from Irish HSBC customers The Revenue Commissioners has collected just more than €1 billion since 2001 from various special investigations of offshore bank accounts held by Irish residents. This includes the €4.6 million received to date from the holders of offshore accounts… – Continue reading

Le Perigord owner pleads guilty in tax case

NEW YORK â?? A founder of famed New York City restaurant Le Périgord faces a potential three-year prison sentence that could take him away from the paragon of traditional French cuisine after he pleaded guilty to hiding income in offshore bank accounts. Georges Briguet, 77, admitted during a Brooklyn federal… – Continue reading

Leaked Documents Reveal HSBC Bank’s Dirty Dealings with Tax Dodgers, Drug Traffickers and Arms Dealers

A team of journalists from 45 nations who investigated documents leaked by a former systems engineer working for banking giant HSBC’s Geneva, Switzerland branch, found HSBC managed secret bank accounts for criminals, drug traffickers, tax dodgers, politicians and celebrities. The documents, covering the period from 2005 to 2007 revealed, according… – Continue reading

Origi, son of former Harambee Stars striker Mike Okoth is among players being investigated by Belgium tax authorities for operating off-shore accounts

Divock Origi is among top European players who have been named for allegedly evading tax in Belgium. According to Sport24, Origi, son of former Harambee Stars goalkeeper turned striker Mike Okoth and who has been loaned to French side Lille, is among players being investigated by Belgium tax authorities for… – Continue reading

BoB takes over Kingdom bank

The Bank of Botswana (BoB) on Friday took over management of troubled offshore bank, Kingdom Bank Africa Limited (KBAL). The bank is reeling from liquidity constraints, which have seen depositors fail to withdraw their monies while workers haven’t received regular salaries for the past three months. In a statement released… – Continue reading

Private banking: shrinking margins, stagnating client base

The following article is from the February 13-26 print edition of the Budapest Business Journal. While the 2008 financial crisis questioned the justification for structured products globally, the recent decision of the Swiss National Bank to scrap the euro peg has revealed risks – not previously perceived by domestic investors… – Continue reading

Shamed HSBC’s £70m pay and bonus for Swiss staff over just three years: Private bank increased payouts by 40% in 2013

Key staff at bank given £21m in salaries and bonuses in 2011 and 2012 But figure jumped almost 40% to £29.2m in 2013, financial reports say Bank is accused of helping customers to cheat taxman out of millions Admits failings in compliance & controls in Swiss private banking wing Staff… – Continue reading

HSBC bank scandal: 5 in Dominican family on filtered list

Santo Domingo.- Five members of a single family figure on the list published on the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) website with the names of customers who allegedly own accounts in Swiss bank HSBC. José A. Rodríguez Yangüela, Laura Rodríguez Yangüela, Luis Rodriguez Yangüela, Tomás Rodríguez Yangüela and Catalina… – Continue reading

HSBC files: Swiss bank hid money for suspected criminals

Documents detail customers who faced allegations including drug-running, corruption, doping and money laundering This article is the subject of a legal complaint made on behalf of Anura Perera. HSBC’s Swiss bank concealed large sums of money for people facing allegations of serious wrongdoing, including drug-running, corruption and money laundering, leaked… – Continue reading

ATO digs for dirt on miners

The Australian Taxation Office has identified at least 36 Australian companies with related entities in Switzerland that may have engaged in tax evasion costing billions in possible tax revenue. According to internal communications between the ATO and the Department of Treasury the bulk of companies under investigation are based in… – Continue reading

HSBC Charged with Being “Tax Evasion Service” for Int’l Criminal Ring

According to the analysis of clandestine files belonging to British banking giant HSBC, it appears that the Swiss banking branch of the conglomerate played a pivotal role in assisting affluent depositors evade taxes on their mega million. A report released on Sunday, Feb 8, by a cadre of  reporters representing… – Continue reading

Venezuela Outdoes All LatAm Nations in HSBC Tax-Evasion Scheme

Latin-American politicians Horacio Cartes (president of Paraguay), Álvaro Noboa (former president of Ecuador), and Alejandro Andrade (Venezuela’s ex-national treasurer) have one thing in common: they all possessed, until at least 2007, secret accounts with HSBC’s private Swiss bank. This according to the Swissleaks report published on Sunday, February 8, which… – Continue reading

Tanzania: 99 Tanzanians Reported to Stash Over Sh200 Billion in Swiss Bank

NINETY nine Tanzanians own 114 million US dollars (over 200bn/-) stashed away in 286 bank accounts in just one bank in Switzerland, a cache of leaked documents from the Swiss arm of the HSBC bank shows. The findings follow a massive cache of leaked data that revealed how the Swiss… – Continue reading

Ministers stash $270m in foreign bank

WASHINGTON DC — An international banking giant, HSBC, made huge profits by allegedly engaging in shady deals of over $270 million with some Zimbabwean citizens seven years ago, in the process, disadvantaging the poor southern African nation of the much-needed foreign currency, documents in Studio 7’s possession have revealed. BY… – Continue reading

Swiss banks: Assets of Pakistanis appear to be exaggerated

Contrary to public perception, a recent investigation into Swiss accounts at one of the world’s biggest banks suggests the collective wealth stashed away by high net worth Pakistani individuals is nowhere near the purported figure of hundreds of billions of dollars. In an investigative project dubbed ‘Swiss Leaks,’ the International… – Continue reading

Leaked Files Link Abdulsalami Abubakar, Chris Garba to $182m Halliburton Bribery Scandal

Davidson Iriekpen with agency report New records obtained by the Paris-based Le Monde newspaper and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have unveiled more details on the $182 million Halliburton bribery scandal in Nigeria that indicted several top government official, in the country who received the bribes, but for… – Continue reading

Over 100,000 Kiwis caught up in HSBC tax scam

WELLINGTON: More than  100,000 Rich Kiwis have been caught with extra tax bills as the result of a huge file leak revealing the global super wealthy hid millions of dollars from tax authorities with the help of HSBC’s Swiss private bank. Inland Revenue investigated New Zealand links to the leaked… – Continue reading

Leaks show secret Swiss bank account by daughter of former Chinese Premier Li

BEIJING – Li Xiaolin, daughter of former Chinese Premier Li Peng, known for his support of the bloody military crackdown on the 1989 democracy movement in Beijing, held close to $2.5 million in a secret HSBC account in Switzerland, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has found. The revelation,… – Continue reading

Clinton foundation received up to $81m from clients of controversial HSBC bank

The charitable foundation run by Hillary Clinton and her family has received as much as $81m from wealthy international donors who were clients of HSBC’s controversial Swiss bank. Leaked files from HSBC’s Swiss banking division reveal the identities of seven donors to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation with… – Continue reading

Asian cities attract more overseas money than Switzerland

Jeremy Grant in Singapore Clampdowns on bank secrecy in Europe and a proliferation of billionaires in Asia helped Hong Kong and Singapore attract more overseas money over the past two years than rivals such as Switzerland, according to a report by Deloitte. The consultancy’s annual ranking of wealth centres highlights… – Continue reading

Newspaper headlines: Tax evasion, bonds ‘bribe’ and ‘Twitter asbos’

The Guardian’s very “word-heavy” front page is entirely taken up with details about what the paper calls “questionable practices” at a subsidiary of HSBC – one of the world’s largest banks. The paper says the financial institution’s private Swiss bank “helped wealthy customers dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars… – Continue reading

With plea deal now off the table, it looks like Cheryl Womack may head to trial after all

On January 14, federal prosecutors told attorneys representing Mission Hills businesswoman Cheryl Womack that she had until the end of the day to take their plea offer or leave it. It had been a couple of months since Womack seemed ready to accept some kind of fate offered up by… – Continue reading

HSBC the latest bank to implement FATCA

IRS threatens 30% withholding tax on non-compliant banks Dubai: Many people, including American citizens working in the Gulf state, received recently letters from their UAE-based banks asking them for more details and papers in compliance with American laws introduced by tax service. The move comes as many citizens of the… – Continue reading

FATCA agreement between Curaçao and the U.S. – the data protection and contractual client confidentiality issues

Speed read On 16 December 2014, Curaçao and the U.S. signed an intergovernmental agreement (“Curaçao-IGA”) setting out the information reporting and withholding requirements applicable to banks and other financial institutions resident in Curaçao (“FI’s”) under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”). By virtue of the Curaçao-IGA, FI’s will be… – Continue reading

Eye Opening FBAR Survey Results: Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts

The Association of Americans Resident Overseas – AARO – recently conducted a 4 month survey to see how Americans with offshore financial accounts were adapting to the mandatory electronic FBAR filing regimen. For decades, U.S. taxpayers with offshore accounts had to paper file FBAR reports each June. Now, FBARs must… – Continue reading

Unfiled FBAR Conviction Against St Louis Man–Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts

The United States Department of Justice secured a conviction against a St. Louis man accused of not reporting foreign bank accounts in Switzerland and Singapore. Raju Mukhi, age 67, was indicted last year on charges of willful failure to file an FBAR and filing false tax returns. Offshore accounts with… – Continue reading

HSBC Still Aiding Tax Fraud Even After Justice Department Settlement: Report

This story has been updated. At her confirmation hearing Wednesday, attorney general-designate Loretta Lynch said she has been “very aggressive” in pursuing white-collar crime. “At the outset, no individual is ‘too big to jail.’ And no one is above the law,” said Lynch. Yet according to a new report from… – Continue reading

Liechtenstein declines to cooperate in ex-Catalan premier’s tax fraud case

Principality judge says no proof exists that money in Pujol’s alleged accounts is illegal “I didn’t want to know anything about inheritance,” claims ex-Catalan chief The government of Liechtenstein has refused to cooperate with the ongoing tax fraud inquiry into foreign bank accounts held by former Catalan premier Jordi Pujol… – Continue reading

Bank Negara urged to act on 1MDB funds in Cayman Islands

The existence of 1MDB’s RM7 billion in the Cayman Islands and its return to Malaysia must be verified. KUALA LUMPUR: Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli urged Bank Negara Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, in a statement on Wednesday, to invoke the Anti Money Laundering Act and ensure that a reported RM7 billion… – Continue reading

The era of offshore bank secrecy is dead

Almost every day brings new evidence that the era of bank secrecy for tax evaders using Swiss and “offshore” bank accounts in “tax havens” is over. Both tax authorities and banks are clamping down on unreported offshore accounts. Early in 2014, Swiss bank Credit Suisse agreed to pay fines of… – Continue reading

China, Switzerland to enhance financial cooperation

Premier Li Keqiang (Left) meets with Simonetta Sommaruga, president of the Swiss Confederation, in Davos, Switzerland, Jan 21, 2015.[Photo/english.gov.cn] China will give Switzerland an investment quota of 50 billion yuan ($8.05 billion) under its Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) scheme to support the establishment of the Zurich offshore renminbi market,… – Continue reading