UBS Pressed For 52,000 Names In 2nd Inquiry

Discussing a move to reveal 250 UBS clients suspected of tax evasion, Hans-Rudolf Merz, the Swiss president and finance minister, said the nation’s secrecy laws remained sacrosanct. Peter Klaunzer/Keystone, via Associated Press

From New York Times:

The UBS memo was blunt: the “Swiss solution” could help affluent Americans.

That message, sent to the bank’s executives in July 2004, referred to a UBS plan to help rich customers evade taxes by hiding money in offshore havens like the Bahamas.

The memo, along with dozens of e-mail messages like it, were disclosed on Thursday in a blistering court document filed by the Justice Department, which sought to compel UBS, based in Switzerland, to divulge the identities of 52,000 Americans whom the authorities suspect of using secret offshore accounts at the bank to dodge taxes.

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My Comment: I cannot help but think that on this list is a who's who of people in American politics, business, and high society.