Family Office
UBS tells int'l wealth managers not to go abroad
Ban pending bank's review of compliance measures it needs to have
in place. UBS has grounded more than 1,000 of its
wealth-management advisors pending a review of its "policy and
compliance framework" for its international private-client
business, according to media reports.
"Last week, we issued a general travel ban for all staff with
client contact in international wealth management," a UBS
spokeswoman told Reuters. "UBS is currently conducting a
review of its policy and compliance framework for its
international wealth management offering."
Don't go there
The move seems to be connected with the Swiss bank's ongoing
legal troubles with U.S. authorities and attacks on its status
and a tax haven from several quarters.
Two months ago UBS admitted to having committed tax fraud by
urging wealthy U.S. clients to open accounts in Switzerland in
order to keep income hidden from the IRS, provided names of about
250 of its U.S.-customers with Swiss bank accounts, and agreed to
pay a fine of $780 million. But it has balked at U.S. demands
that it name all Americans with Swiss accounts.
The other day U.S. authorities nabbed Palm Beach, Fla.-based CPA
Steven Rubenstein, a client of UBS Wealth Management, and charged
him with tax evasion.
When the U.S. investigation gathered steam last spring, UBS put a
moratorium on providing offshore banking and brokerage services
to U.S. residents, and stopped advisors based in Switzerland from
travelling to the U.S. for client meetings.
Now, with the U.S. and some Western European countries apparently
eager to crack down on what they view as Swiss-assisted tax
evasion, UBS and several other big Swiss private banks want to
protect their employees from seizure and prosecution abroad,
according to a week-old report in the Financial Times.
"This is an immediate step to reduce compliance risk," a UBS
spokeswoman told the Swiss newspaper Sonntag Blick. "We
are conducting the review because of the complex regulatory
environment of UBS international wealth management," the
spokeswoman said. -FWR
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