Credit Suisse AG, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, has begun notifying certain US clients suspected of offshore tax evasion that it intends to turn over their names to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), with the help of Swiss tax authorities.
Credit Suisse’s notification by letter, a copy of which was obtained on Monday by reporters, says the handover of names and account details will take place following a recent formal request for the information by the IRS.
The move by Credit Suisse to disclose US client names and account information is the latest twist in a showdown between Switzerland and the US over the battered tradition of Swiss bank secrecy.
Photo: EPA
US authorities, who suspect tens of thousands of wealthy Americans of evading billions of dollars in taxes through private Swiss banks in recent years, are conducting a widening criminal investigation into scores of Swiss banks, including Credit Suisse.
The letter, on Credit Suisse letterhead and dated Nov. 2, comes from the bank’s Zurich headquarters and is signed by two Credit Suisse managing directors, Michel Ruffieux and Stephan Gussman. It cites a formal request made by the IRS to the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (SFTA) via a tax treaty between the two countries.
“The IRS is seeking information with regard to accounts of certain US persons owned through a domiciliary company [as beneficial owners] that have been maintained with Credit Suisse AG,” the letter said.
It added that the recipient of the letter, whose name was redacted in the copy obtained by Reuters, fell into the category of clients sought by the IRS. Domiciliary companies are a type of shell company.
It was unclear how many US clients had been sent the letter.
David Walker, a spokesman for Credit Suisse, declined to -comment on the matter.
The letter says that the IRS request covers accounts maintained at any time over the period from Jan. 1, 2002, through Dec. 31 last year.
The letter gives the client two choices: Either agree in writing to the turnover of the client’s data to the Swiss tax authorities, which will then forward it to the IRS, or hire a lawyer in Switzerland and contest the process. Under US law, contesting a handover requires the American client to inform the US attorney general that they are doing so — a move that effectively discloses the identity of the suspected tax evader to US authorities.
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