A Blow To Bank Secrecy As Liechtenstein Prepares To Sign US Accord - Report

Nick Parmee

4 December 2008

The US and Liechtenstein are to share banking client information that will reduce the principality’s appeal to wealthy US citizens seeking to conceal assets behind bank secrecy laws, according to media reports.

The agreement, to be signed on 8 December 2008, follows two years of discussions and a Senate committee probe into possible tax evasion by customers of Swiss and Liechtenstein banks, including the LGT Group, controlled by the principality’s royal family.

The accord leaves only Monaco and Andorra as havens without formal procedures for exchanging information with the US Internal Revenue Service, the Paris-based Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development has said.

The agreement, in force from 2010, covers financial information for 2009 and onwards, which may leave a loophole for those who act immediately, according to some commentators.