Switzerland's oldest Bank closes the door after tax evasion scandal

The Swiss banks have suffered yesterday one of its worst blows of history. The oldest financial institution in Switzerland, the Wegelin & co., announced it will close its doors, after admitting having helped American clients to promote a tax evasion of more than $ 1.2 billion and hide money in Swiss accounts.
The condemnation and the order of the Bank represent a watershed in the history of Swiss banking and its practices have received, for decades, criminal money or evading, without ever having been convicted. Today, the Swiss banks have opted to promote its expansion not in rich countries, where they are being pushed, but emerging us, in search of the new rich of these markets, including Brazil 's.
Created in 1741 and symbol of the country, the Bank Wegelin admitted his crimes in a trial in the us. The Bank will pay a fine of $ 57.8 million. But the case broke out like a bomb in Switzerland and could be the turning point of the struggle of countries like USA, France and Germany against the Swiss banking system.
Otto Bruderer, one of the owners of the Bank, acknowledged in a statement that between 2002 and 2010, your institution helped Americans to evade taxes. "Once the case has been completed, the Wegelin shall cease to operate as a Bank," said the institution.
In the past three years, dozens of Swiss Bankers have been arrested and sentenced in the United States. Banks have warned their employees to not even go on holiday in the US, under the risk of being arrested. Currently, Michael Berlinka, Urs Frei and Roger Keller, former executives of Wegelin, were declared by American Justice as "fugitives".
In 2009, another Swiss Bank, UBS agreed to hand over to American Justice 4.4 thousand names of account holders who would have bypassed the u.s. tax authorities. In addition, the Bank paid a $ 780 million fine. But refused to admit the crime. For information, Bradley Birkenfeld, a UBS banker, received $ 104 million from the u.s. Government in prize. Another bank investigated was Credit Suisse, besides the Basler Kantonalbank. The u.s. General Office Deputy, Kathryn Keneally, made it clear yesterday that one of the priorities of Justice will punish banks that help tax Dodgers.
Emerging. Fear of lawsuits and even jail in the US, many of the databases management of fortune of Switzerland are now concentrating its expansion in emerging markets, with a special focus on Brazil and the search for new Brazilian millionaires.
The charges against the Swiss banks, but also occurred in Brazil, and some bankers were arrested. At the time, the Swiss banks have accused Brazilian authorities of promote processes "politicians" against Credit Suisse and UBS. For the Swiss, what makes justice in Brazil is "an act of pure public relations", to put bankers in jail. According to the then President of the Association of Swiss banks, Pierre Mirabaud, the indictment of bankers in Switzerland and in Operation Operation Kaspar would have been "crazy".
But the complaints have not stopped. The Swiss press revealed how UBS would have used social projects, up in Brazil, to help millionaires around the world practicing tax evasion. The information was revealed by the Swiss newspaper Le Temps and indicate that the Bank encouraged customers millionaires who wanted to keep their undeclared accounts to give part of their resources to their social projects around the world to bypass the tax authorities.
In Brazil, the UBS supported three projects: the improvement of schools in Bahia, searches against Chagas disease and premature child care in Rio.
According to the newspaper Le Temps, the UBS Optimus Foundation in 1999, who managed a fortune of more than $ 30 million in 2007 to apply in social projects. In addition, more resources were $ 50 million deposited by donors in an investment fund in Luxembourg. The dividends and interest generated by the Fund were earmarked for social programs at UBS.
The system would function in a relatively simple. A millionaire who wanted to send to a tax haven their money could apply its resources in Luxembourg Fund, claiming that it was a social action. Indeed it was, with the interest that the resources generated. But, at the same time, transferring resources to the outside, running away from the taxman.