BSI Bank Lugano Signs DOJ Non-Prosecution Agreement

Yesterday, March 31, 2015, it was announced that BSI SA of Lugano signed the DOJ Non-Prosecution Agreement (NPA). Here is a summary:

DOJ Acting Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates – “We are using the information that we have learned from BSI and other Swiss banks in the program to pursue additional investigations into both the banks and individuals.”

Noted Requirements of the NPA for BSI
Provide detailed information on an account-by-account basis for account in which U.S. taxpayers have a direct or indirect interest
Provide detailed information as to other banks that transferred funds into secret accounts or that accepted fund when secret accounts were closed
BSI will pay a $211 million penalty
Tax Evasion Tactics Used by BSISham corporations and trusts to conceal identity of account holder
Numbered accounts
Credit or debit cards without names visible on the card itself
Help repatriating cash into the U.S. illegally by the use of refillable credit and debit cards with limits to avoid cash transaction reports (CTR)
Code words to gain access to funds“Can you download some tunes for us?”
“My gas tank is running empty”
Connected Jurisdictions
India, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Israel, Caribbean
Non-compliant U.S. account holders of BSI now must pay a 50% penalty if they join OVDP
BSI services 125,000 clients of which there are 3,000 to 4,000 accounts that are attributable to “known” U.S. taxpayers. The unknown amount will be determined by the cooperation between BSI and DOJ under the NPA over the next two to four years.

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