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Analysis of the Recent US Attacks on Swiss Banking
By admin | July 15, 2008
The US Department of Justice recently filed papers in a US Court seeking to allow the IRS to ask for what is known as a John Doe Summons, otherwise known as a ‘fishing expedition.’
They claim a violation of US law migt have occurred and are thereforeasking the court to let them get into Swiss bank records, violating bank secrecy and completely disrespecting Swiss law, to find any guilty party. In this case they are looking for possible tax fraud for by unknown parties that are US citizens.
The IRS is trying once again to make a foreign sovereign state comply with a requirement that would destroy the integrity of their banking system, built up over centuries. All so that maybe a handful of people can be convicted for tax fraud.
The Swiss have some bad tax treaties with the USA. The things that UBS did were apparently stupid – and worst of all, they did them inside of the USA at that which gives the USA jurisdiction. It appears as if Germany started a chain reaction when they obtained data stolen from a bank in Liechtenstein. For a regular person that would be a crime – possession of stolen property – but the Germans consider themselves to have an exemption from criminal statutes regarding possession of stolen property even when they knowingly buy the stolen property.
The Swiss Banks provide excellent service, but their jurisdiction (Switzerland) is faulty and has been faulty for some time. It was years ago that Bill Hill, of PT fame, wrote that Swiss banking secrecy had “more holes than Swiss cheese.” We have been warning people about the lack of real secrecy and privacy in Switzerland for years.
USA citizens, when accepted at all as clients by Swiss banks, have been asked to provide their social security numbers for some years, alongside signing a disclaimer and waiving bank secrecy rights. Other serious offshore banks never ask for this information. It is all based on the underlying tax treaty calling for cooperation in the instance of a person failing a false tax return by intentionally understating income on the tax return.
The use of the “John Does Summons” is unlikely to work with the Swiss authorities, which will reduce the case to a few individuals who the USA may have specific information about. The John Doe Summons does, however, serve its intended purpose which is to scare US citizens into full compliance. The mainstream media does not accurately report the facts, nor do they discuss the law. What the USA courts say or do still has little effect if any on what the Swiss government allows. This simply contributes to the atmosphere internationally making it very difficult for Americans to get offshore accounts in their own personal names. This makes IBCs and foundations more popular, and drives productive American citizens towards renunciation of citizenship and acquiring a second passport.
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Topics: Currencies and Cash | 1 Comment »
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July 15th, 2008 at 4:05 am
[...] of Peter Macfarlane and The Q Wealth Report. It was originally published on Peter’s blog at http://www.petermacfarlane.net/2008/07/15/analysis-of-the-recent-us-attacks-on-swiss-banking/ Bookmark: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new [...]