https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Switzerland in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed UPDATED: A Spanish judge on Thursday released on bail Hervé Falciani, a former HSBC computer analyst detained in Madrid at the request of Switzerland for leaking documents alleging widespread tax evasion, a judicial source said. https://www.thelocal.ch/20180405/spanish-judge-to-decide-whether-to-release-swiss-bank-whistleblower Thu, 05 Apr 2018 14:40:16 +0200 spanish-judge-to-decide-whether-to-release-swiss-bank-whistleblower The Netherlands have requested information on a large number of Swiss bank accounts held by residents of its country in connection with a tax probe, Swiss authorities confirmed at the weekend. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150927/netherlands-seek-swiss-help-on-tax-dodgers Sun, 27 Sep 2015 12:50:54 +0200 netherlands-seek-swiss-help-on-tax-dodgers The European Union and Switzerland signed a major accord on Wednesday designed to prevent EU residents from hiding undeclared income in Swiss banks, the European Commission said. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150527/swiss-sign-tax-agreement-accord-with-eu Wed, 27 May 2015 14:54:04 +0200 swiss-sign-tax-agreement-accord-with-eu Lugano-based bank BSI will pay a $211 million penalty after acknowledging it helped clients create sham identities to evade American taxes, the US Justice Department announced on Monday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150330/us-hits-swiss-bsi-bank-with-211-million-penalty Mon, 30 Mar 2015 22:20:51 +0200 us-hits-swiss-bsi-bank-with-211-million-penalty The Swiss lower house of parliament has approved a bill that would prevent banks from being able to continue deducting fines for wrongdoing from their taxable income. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150302/bank-fines-no-longer-tax-deductible-under-new-bill Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:51:13 +0100 bank-fines-no-longer-tax-deductible-under-new-bill Italy and Switzerland have signed an "historic agreement" to fight tax evasion, giving Italians until September to disclose funds hidden across the border in Swiss bank accounts. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150224/swiss-agree-with-italy-to-fight-tax-dodgers Tue, 24 Feb 2015 12:36:26 +0100 swiss-agree-with-italy-to-fight-tax-dodgers A former Swiss banker fainted Wednesday at the opening of his Zurich trial for breaking Swiss bank secrecy laws by allegedly giving confidential data to WikiLeaks and German authorities, media reported. https://www.thelocal.ch/20141210/banker-faints-in-trial-over-breaking-secrecy-laws Wed, 10 Dec 2014 18:14:00 +0100 banker-faints-in-trial-over-breaking-secrecy-laws India's government revealed Monday new names of people accused of illegally stashing funds in Swiss bank accounts, and those in Liechtenstein and other offshore havens, as it seeks to recover billions of untaxed dollars parked abroad. https://www.thelocal.ch/20141027/indian-government-names Mon, 27 Oct 2014 21:11:00 +0100 indian-government-names A former UBS employee became the first Swiss banker in history to be penalized for espionage after being convicted for passing on bank statement details to US authorities in a decision that escaped media attention for almost three months. https://www.thelocal.ch/20141014/first-swiss-banker-penalized-for-espionage Tue, 14 Oct 2014 11:46:00 +0200 first-swiss-banker-penalized-for-espionage Switzerland's government decided on Wednesday to launch talks with other nations on the automatic exchange of bank account details opening the way to a possible end to Swiss banking secrecy by 2018. https://www.thelocal.ch/20141008/swiss-set-to-join-talks-on-bank-data-exchange Wed, 08 Oct 2014 20:47:35 +0200 swiss-set-to-join-talks-on-bank-data-exchange Switzerland said on Monday that it had completed a programme to pay Britain and Austria hundreds of millions of euros in settlements for past tax-dodging by their citizens. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140901/swiss-pays-uk-and-austria-tax-dodging-deal Mon, 01 Sep 2014 21:16:00 +0200 swiss-pays-uk-and-austria-tax-dodging-deal Swiss authorities said Tuesday that they would give French tax authorities the bank details of former international footballer Patrick Vieira, who is being probed by Paris. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140624/swiss-send-ex-football-stars-bank-data-to-paris Tue, 24 Jun 2014 15:45:00 +0200 swiss-send-ex-football-stars-bank-data-to-paris German customs officials have seized two containers filled with account details from a Swiss private bank's subsidiary in the Cayman Islands, a news report said on Sunday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140622/zurich-bank-probed-after-caymans-documents-seized Sun, 22 Jun 2014 23:39:00 +0200 zurich-bank-probed-after-caymans-documents-seized The Geneva branch of HSBC Private Bank is suspected of helping almost 3,000 French citizens to defraud France’s tax department of more than €4 billion, according to a newspaper report. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140611/french-suspect-geneva-bank-of-aiding-tax-fraud Wed, 11 Jun 2014 12:13:00 +0200 french-suspect-geneva-bank-of-aiding-tax-fraud Swisspartners says it will pay a $4.4-million fine to avoid prosecution over its past assistance to US tax dodgers, with Washington hailing the asset manager for its "extraordinary cooperation." https://www.thelocal.ch/20140511/swisspartners-pays-44mn-to-avoid-us-tax-fraud-charges Sun, 11 May 2014 11:32:00 +0200 swisspartners-pays-44mn-to-avoid-us-tax-fraud-charges Switzerland was among 47 countries that signed up on Tuesday to automatically share bank account data, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said, in what has been touted as a major step towards cracking down on global tax evasion. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140506/swiss-signs-on-to-oecd-tax Wed, 07 May 2014 01:08:00 +0200 swiss-signs-on-to-oecd-tax Two influential American senators want the US justice department (DOJ) to seek the extradition of more than 50 Swiss bankers and financial advisers who have been charged by the department for aiding and abetting tax evasion. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140319/us-senators-call-for-extradition-of-swiss-bankers Wed, 19 Mar 2014 11:24:00 +0100 us-senators-call-for-extradition-of-swiss-bankers The French government says that nearly 16,000 people have declared funds hidden abroad after Switzerland curtailed its vaunted banking secrecy. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140219/france-says-thousands-declare-swiss-accounts Wed, 19 Feb 2014 16:02:46 +0100 france-says-thousands-declare-swiss-accounts Bern and Brussels began talks on Friday to update a deal under which taxes on savings banked in Switzerland by EU citizens are paid back anonymously to their homelands. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140117/swiss-and-eu-kick-off-tax-evasion-talks Fri, 17 Jan 2014 19:26:00 +0100 swiss-and-eu-kick-off-tax-evasion-talks A former top UBS executive is due in US court for the first time on Monday after his extradition from Italy for helping thousands of Americans hide billions of dollars from the taxman. https://www.thelocal.ch/20131216/ubs-exec-faces-us-tax-evasion-charges Mon, 16 Dec 2013 09:55:00 +0100 ubs-exec-faces-us-tax-evasion-charges