[NZZ am Sonntag, Switzerland]
Nachrichten,
Switzerland
UBS America Turned
Into a 'Criminal Organization'
"The
energy devoted by UBS representatives to breaking the laws of another country, a
country that is by all means a democracy - is startling, even shocking."
By Patrik Etschmayer
Translated By Patrik Etschmayer
August 18, 2009
Switzerland - Nachrichten - Original Article (German)
The plea agreement is 16 pages
long and deals mostly with legal details, such as waiving the right to a proper
trial - just what you'd expect to see when someone realizes that it would be
best to confess so the prosecutor can dictate his conditions. Chief among which
is the full disclosure of all documents and correspondences related to the crime.
Also mentioned in the document
is that that the penalty was doubled due to the sophisticated methods by which
the crimes were committed.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
[American client of UBS] John
McCarthy's plea agreement with prosecutors may cost him a $400,000
to $800,000 fine (twice the amount of the still-to-be-determined damages), and perhaps
prison time. But there are accomplices as well, including the Union Bank of
Switzerland [UBS]. When there's talk of "sophisticated methods," this
refers to the processes described by McCarthy in his confession and the documents
UBS handed over earlier this year, which are referred to in the appendix of the
plea agreement.
In these documents, UBS shows
every sign of being a criminal organization, helping tax cheats move money surreptitiously
skimmed off of transactions conducted in the United States by way of the Cayman
Islands, and deposited in a specially established Hong Kong front company account.
McCarthy's UBS adviser and a Swiss attorney recommended by UBS showed him a
variety of ways to hide even more money from the U.S. government - be it in a
private fund in Liechtenstein, a bank account in the British Virgin Islands or
a Swiss insurance policy.
One may argue one
point or another and say this is just one individual, this is peanuts, or
whatever. But this is only one of the first cases. The energy devoted by UBS representatives
well into 2008, to breaking the laws of another country, a country that is by
all means a democracy - is startling, even shocking.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
McCarthy was assured by UBS representatives
that many U.S. citizens incorrectly asses their incomes and simply skim money
off the top. It's certainly possible that this was a lie and that McCarthy is an
isolated case. But that's very hard to believe: The routine and speed with
which this customer was set up with a complex web of secret accounts and even a
bogus corporation almost leads to a singular conclusion: UBS had established
and cultivated a business model that was routinely pressed into service.
SEE ALSO ON THIS:
Nachrichten, Switzerland:
U.S. and E.U. Pressure Spells End of Swiss Bank Secrecy
Le Temps, Switzerland:
Wake Up. Swiss Bank Secrecy is Under Threat!
Tribune De Geneve, Switzerland:
Switzerland Escapes America's Fangs
Which raises another
question: What did UBS management know about all this? Is it really just a few
rogue bankers that with great secrecy developed their own little operations
unit inside UBS? If this were actually the case, one would have to ask what [former
UBS chairmen] Marcel Ospel and [current chairman] Peter Kurer have
been paid so handsomely for? Particularly since their pay is supposed to be
tied to performance. In the aftermath of the billions that have been lost in
recent years, this is a question that must be asked in any case.
Of course thousands of UBS employees
- the vast majority - have done a good job in recent years. They were
law-abiding and did nothing wrong. But from some level on up, integrity,
morality and respect for the law seem to have gone out the window, while an incredible
arrogance of power and a sense of being masters of the universe vaporized any reason
that may have remained.
These people dragged UBS from
being a flagship bank into a basket case requiring a government bailout that threatened
to pull down the entire national economy. And now its senior officials are mixed
up with criminal activities, as well. It's high time for Swiss justice to tackle
the problem. Or do crimes stop being crimes when they're committed by "systemically
important" pillars of society?
CLICK HERE FOR GERMAN VERSION
[Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US August 24, 3:45am]
