Compliance
Bank Linth Joins Ranks Of Firms Signing NPAs With US Over Tax
Another firm has signed up to the US programme designed to draw a line under years of wrangling between Switzerland and the US over tax evasion allegations.
Bank Linth, a subsidiary of Liechtensteinische Landesbank, has become the latest bank to reach a non-prosecution agreement with the US as part of a programme by the US to stamp out tax evasion.
The bank said it has reached a final, out-of-court settlement of the US tax issue with the US Department of Justice. The US will refrain from criminal prosecution. In return, Bank Linth will pay about SFr3.9 million ($4.2 million), it said in a statement late last week.
At the end of 2013, Bank Linth decided to join the US tax programme as part of category two (banks in this category believe there is a risk that they might be holding undeclared money). Opting for this category was “done for the sake of caution and in the interest of achieving a final resolution,” the bank said.
“After intensive talks, Bank Linth has reached an out-of-court settlement with the US Department of Justice. This means Bank Linth can close the books on the US tax issue,” it said.
Bank Linth set aside provisions for its participation in the US tax programme and said its SFr3.9 million payment to the US is covered in the 2015 financial statement of Bank Linth by these provisions and the release of reserves for general banking risks. The settlement with the US authorities will not significantly affect the bank’s annual results for 2015, it said. LLB Group will incur expenses of about SFr1.9 million in the 2015 financial statement.
A number of banks have started to reach settlements with the US over the programme, originally agreed between the Swiss and US authorities in August 2013. A week ago, Switzerland-based Rothschild Bank and Banca Credinvest signed a non-prosecution deal. Rothschild will pay a penalty of $11.51 million, while Credinvest will pay $3.022 million. They will also provide detailed information for the accounts in question and will also make a complete disclosure of their cross-border activities.
