Oldest Swiss bank to close after guilty plea

[No Elephants]

Swiss bank Wegelin to close after guilty plea

y Nate Raymond and Lynnley Browning

NEW YORK | Fri Jan 4, 2013 8:27am EST

(Reuters) - Wegelin & Co, the oldest Swiss private bank, said on Thursday it would shut its doors permanently after more than 2 1/2 centuries, following its guilty plea to charges of helping wealthy Americans evade taxes through secret accounts.

The plea, in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, marks the death knell for one of Switzerland's most storied banks, whose original European clients pre-date the American Revolution. It is also potentially a major turning point in a battle by U.S. authorities against Swiss bank secrecy.

A major question was left hanging by the plea: Has the bank turned over, or does it plan to disclose, names of American clients to U.S. authorities? That is a key demand in a broad U.S. investigation of tax evasion through Swiss banks.

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Wegelin admitted to charges of conspiracy in helping Americans evade taxes on at least $1.2 billion for nearly a decade. Wegelin agreed to pay $57.8 million to the United States in restitution and fines.

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"Once the matter is finally concluded, Wegelin will cease to operate as a bank," Wegelin said in a statement on Thursday from its headquarters in the remote, small town of St. Gallen next to the Appenzell Alps near the German-Austrian border.

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A corporate indictment can be a death knell. In 2002, accounting firm Arthur Andersen went out of business after being found guilty over its role in failed energy company Enron Corp. A 2005 Supreme Court ruling later overturned the conviction, but it was too late to save the company.

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Zurich-based Julius Baer and some cantonal, or regional, banks are also under scrutiny, sources familiar with the probes previously told Reuters. So are UK-based HSBC Holdings and three Israeli banks, Hapoalim, Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank Ltd and Bank Leumi, sources also said previously.

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"The best deal now for these folks is to come in and 'get right' with the IRS, before either the IRS or the Justice Department finds them," she said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/04/us-swissbank-wegelin-idUSBRE9020O020130104

I thought the amnesty period for Americans to declare their secret accounts ended a while ago? Am i mistaken?

I thought that I recognized the judge's name, so I googled. Rakoff is not known for stiff sentences to white collar criminals.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2012/10/18/what-judge-rakoff-will-consider-upon-sentencing-rajat-gupta/

[Enthusiast]

1. Why didn't they post the names of the tax evaders online?

I seriously doubt that any tax evader will be punished in a significant way. Because, you know, taxes are bad and stuff.