Still Waiting for Those Names

[groovedaddy]

After UBS was caught red-handed in the United States offering tax evasion strategies, the Swiss government agreed last year to give the Internal Revenue Service the names of Americans on 4,450 accounts where their riches were secretly stashed with the bank. Swiss leaders appear determined to comply, but they are not finding it easy.

First, a Swiss court declared the deal illegal. This week, the lower house of Parliament approved the handover but gave Swiss voters the opportunity to put the issue to a referendum. That would delay a decision until 2011 — long after the deal’s August deadline.

We sympathize with the government. Still, the problem is of Switzerland’s making. Tax evasion abetted by Swiss bankers and bank secrecy rules cost the United States Treasury billions in lost tax revenue. At one point, just the 4,450 secret UBS accounts held $18 billion in assets, according to the I.R.S.

If Switzerland does not meet the deadline, the I.R.S. must proceed with a legal case against UBS. That would force the bank to choose between handing over 52,000 names and breaking Swiss law or not handing them over and being found in contempt of court here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/opinion/17thu3.html?th&emc=th

[deconstruct911]

1. Kick

drug money perhaps?