Way to go UBS

WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS AG (UBS.N) (UBSN.VX) has agreed to pay $200 million to settle U.S. regulators' claims that it acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and investment adviser, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday.

UBS' actions helped certain U.S. clients maintain undisclosed accounts in Switzerland and other foreign countries, which in turn enabled the clients to avoid paying tax obligations, the SEC alleged.

From 1999 through 2008, UBS acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and investment adviser to thousands of U.S. clients and offshore entities with U.S. citizens as beneficial owners, the SEC said.

UBS has also agreed to repay $180 million in ill-gotten gains and $400 million in tax-related payments to resolve U.S. Department of Justice charges that it defrauded U.S. tax authorities.

The SEC also alleges that UBS conducted business through client advisers located primarily in Switzerland, who were not associated with a registered broker-dealer or investment adviser.

Calls to UBS' lawyer were not immediately returned. (Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Gary Hill)

Big deal.  Has no impact on US Wealth Management clients.  Not one UBS US broker will be affected.   The only turncoats are the tax-dodging US citizens who didn’t self-report their foreign gains.  Did UBS pick on you in grade school or something? 

[quote=jacks]Big deal.  Has no impact on US Wealth Management clients.  Not one UBS US broker will be affected.   The only turncoats are the tax-dodging US citizens who didn’t self-report their foreign gains.  Did UBS pick on you in grade school or something? [/quote]

If this is correct… why then did UBS agree to provide FINMA with the identities of U.S. customers? Not a one is some advisor’s valued client? 

Further, no impact? watch the stock Thursday- tell me then that this has NO impact.

UBS has’nt hurt me at all personally, but I’ve got many friends, former Paine guys who’ve worked their asses off to build solid books who have been playing defense and taking it in the shorts for this lame firm too long. Think nobody will bail? It’s a constant flow out of that place. Even the Swiss don’t want it.

Absolutely none of the clients are US brokerage clients.  They are all UBS Private Banking clients overseas.  If you think tax cheats should be protected, thus increasing the burden on the rest of it, then this should truly upset you.  Otherwise, non-issue.  This stuff has been baked in the cake for quite awhile.  No surprises.  I was a PWJ guy as well.  The only thing outside of the ARS stuff (which was everywhere, but especially prevalent at UBS) that is disconcerting about our firm to me is the inordinate number of guys they are throwing checks at to join on.  I’ve seen a few leave, but they have been by and large replaced by higher producing guys from Merrill.  Tell your buddies to hang in at least until the cash package is announced later this week.  They are paying a portion of last years production out as a non-retention retention.  They don’t want to call it that, but that’s what it is.  Pretty insignificant compared to the REAL retention packages being thrown arond at MS/SB, but cash is cash…there are worse places to work.

burton do your research–

this has nothing to do with US wealth management, its all the offshore ultra high net worth (25mm +++)



this is about constitutional law.



In Switzerland tax evasion is not a crime. In fact Swiss privacy laws trump government laws. Those 17k US clients went to Switzerland or invested through a Swiss client advisor. UBS’s crime is that they are now a large Global player and a target of the IRS.



Those 17k clients will leave UBS and find a home at one of the thousand small banks in Switzerland, Cayman Islands, Lichtenstien etc…



UBS pays the price for some intelligent wealthy high rollers who knew exactly what they where doing. Is UBS to blame? of course should have turned the business away and had better controls since it operates on the world stage, thats why they are paying the fine.

Wealthy investors, we love you.

swiss numbered bank account to hide money?

It ain’t over till it’s over.  Who said this was nothing???

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government sued UBS AG on Thursday,
seeking disclosure to the Internal Revenue Service of thousands of the
Swiss bank’s U.S. customers with secret accounts, the Justice
Department said.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami came the day after UBS agreed to pay $780 million and identify certain U.S. clients in a deal to resolve criminal fraud charges that it assisted rich Americans to evade taxes.

The action came after U.S. tax authorities said a request for the records under a Swiss treaty may only result in the production of records for about 300 accounts.

According to the lawsuit, as many as 52,000 U.S. customers hid their UBS accounts from the government in violation of tax laws, the department said.

The government said in the suit that of those 52,000 secret accounts, about 20,000 contained securities and about 32,000 contained cash. According to a UBS document filed with the lawsuit, as of the mid-2000s, those secret accounts held about $14.8 billion in assets.

According to court documents, U.S. citizens failed to report and pay U.S. income taxes on income earned in those secret accounts.

The lawsuit also alleged that UBS helped hundreds of U.S. taxpayers set up dummy offshore companies, to make it easier for those taxpayers to avoid their reporting obligations under U.S. tax laws.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said, "We are committed to moving forward with the summons enforcement process. This action sends a strong signal to taxpayers hiding their money offshore. The IRS will be aggressive in pursuing people who shirk their obligations under the tax law."

(Reporting by James Vicini, Editing by Tim Dobbyn).

Obviously as short sighted as the dumbass who said "Further, no impact? watch the stock Thursday- tell me then that this has NO impact."  Oh yeah, that was you as well.  You clearly do not comprehend the difference between a swiss private bank and a us wealth management firm.  This only impacts the US tax dodgers and the swiss private bankers who showed them how to utilize the swiss banking laws.  This has zero impact on US wealth management (the former painewebber), it's brokers, or it's clients.  If you have an ax to grind, at least find a valid topic.  Or be pissed off at your fellow citizens who have scammed the IRS (and thus all of us) out of tax revenues.  Oh, and the stocked closed up today. 

[quote=jacks]

Obviously as short sighted as the dumbass who said “Further, no impact? watch the stock Thursday- tell me then that this has NO impact.”  Oh yeah, that was you as well.  You clearly do not comprehend the difference between a swiss private bank and a us wealth management firm.  This only impacts the US tax dodgers and the swiss private bankers who showed them how to utilize the swiss banking laws.  This has zero impact on US wealth management (the former painewebber), it’s brokers, or it’s clients.  If you have an ax to grind, at least find a valid topic.  Or be pissed off at your fellow citizens who have scammed the IRS (and thus all of us) out of tax revenues.  Oh, and the stocked closed up today. 

Real-Time: 9.31 -1.27 (-12.00%) 12:48pm ET

I have no strong particular feelings in defense of UBS or the tax evaders, but I do think it’s peculiar that now is the time that this is happening. It’s obviously no secret that Swiss bank accounts have been one of the tax shelters of choice for decades, but I think it smells of desperation that the IRS and SEC is now on this witch hunt of the wealthy.

[quote=SometimesNowhere]I have no strong particular feelings in defense of UBS or the tax evaders, but I do think it’s peculiar that now is the time that this is happening. It’s obviously no secret that Swiss bank accounts have been one of the tax shelters of choice for decades, but I think it smells of desperation that the IRS and SEC is now on this witch hunt of the wealthy. [/quote]

Agree… it’s the ‘populist’ thing to be doing and that’s not changing anytime soon given the direction this new US administration is headed.