Tax Haven Banks and U. S. Tax Compliance - Obtaining the Names of U.S. Clients with Swiss Accounts

Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

Wednesday, March 4, 2009
02:30 PM

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has scheduled a hearing, "Tax Haven Banks and U. S. Tax Compliance - Obtaining the Names of U.S. Clients with Swiss Accounts," on Wednesday, March 4, 2009, at 2:30 p.m., in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building. This hearing was originally scheduled for February 24, 2009.

This hearing will continue the Subcommittee’s examination of financial institutions which are located in offshore tax havens and which use practices that facilitate tax evasion and other misconduct by U.S. clients. One of the banks featured in a July 2008 hearing on this topic is UBS, a major financial institution headquartered in Switzerland. The hearing will examine issues related to a John Doe summons served by the IRS on UBS seeking the names of U.S. clients with UBS Swiss accounts that have not been disclosed to the IRS. In July, UBS representatives estimated that about 19,000 U.S. clients had about $18 billion in assets in such Swiss accounts. The hearing will examine a recent deferred prosecution agreement involving UBS, the status of the John Doe summons, the role of U.S.-Swiss tax and legal assistance treaties, and the effect of Swiss secrecy laws on U.S. information requests.

This text will be replaced

Witnesses

Panel 1

• JOHN DiCICCO [view testimony]
  Acting Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division
  U.S. Department of Justice
• THE HONORABLE DOUGLAS H. SHULMAN [view testimony]
  Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service
  U. S. Department of the Treasury

Panel 2

• MARK BRANSON [view testimony]
  Chief Financial Officer, UBS Global Wealth Management & Swiss Bank
  Member of the Group Managing Board

March 2009 Hearings

Search By -- Month -- January February March April May June July August September October November December -- Year -- 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

March 2009

31st	Stability through Scandal: a Review of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer 10:00 AM
25th	Southern Border Violence: Homeland Security Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Responsibilities 9:30 AM
18th	A New Way Home: Findings from the Disaster Recovery Subcommittee Special Report and Working with the New Administration on a Way Forward 2:30 PM
11th	Violent Islamist Extremism: al-Shabaab Recruitment in America 9:30 AM
05th	Lessons Learned: How the New Administration Can Achieve an Accurate and Cost-Effective 2010 Census 2:30 PM
05th	Follow the Money: Transparency and Accountability for Recovery and Reinvestment Spending 10:00 AM
04th	Tax Haven Banks and U. S. Tax Compliance - Obtaining the Names of U.S. Clients with Swiss Accounts 2:30 PM
04th	Where Were the Watchdogs? Systemic Risk and the Breakdown of Financial Governance 9:00 AM