WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced Dec. 29 that it had reached final resolutions with banks that have met the requirements of the Swiss Bank Program.
The Swiss Bank Program was created to provide a platform for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States.
“The Swiss Bank Program has been and continues to be a vital part of the Justice Department's efforts to aggressively pursue tax evasion,” Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said. “This groundbreaking initiative has uncovered those who help facilitate evasion schemes and those who hide funds in secret offshore accounts; improved our ability to return tax dollars to the United States; and allowed us to pursue investigations into banks and individuals.”
The Swiss Bank Program involves four categories: banks already being examined by the United States, banks that notified the Justice Department that they could be involved in tax-related offenses, banks that established they did not commit tax offenses, and banks that established that they met select criteria for deemed-compliance under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
“The completion of the examination of Category 3 and 4 banks in the Swiss Bank Program marks another milestone in the continued success of this valuable criminal compliance effort,” said Richard Weber, chief of the IRS criminal investigation (CI). “IRS–CI will continue to partner with DOJ in pursuing those who facilitate or engage in international income tax evasion.”