Swiss Government Stands Up to U.S.
Submitted by Michael Nystrom on Wed, 07/08/2009 - 10:07
From the NY Times
PARIS — The Swiss government said Wednesday that it was prepared to seize U.B.S. client data rather than allow the bank to hand it over to the United States to settle a tax case.
U.B.S. has refused a demand from U.S. authorities that it turn over the names of 52,000 American clients, arguing that to do so would be illegal under Swiss banking secrecy laws and would open it to prosecution at home. The U.S. Justice Department in February sued U.B.S., saying it suspected the bank of helping wealthy Americans hide billions of dollars in secret offshore accounts.
“Switzerland makes it perfectly clear that Swiss law prohibits U.B.S. from complying with a possible order by the court in Miami to hand over the client information,” the Swiss Department of Justice and Police said Wednesday in a statement on its Web site, a day after it made a filing to the same effect in the U.S. District Court in Miami. Therefore, “all the necessary measures should be taken to prevent U.B.S. from handing over the information on the 52,000 account holders demanded in the U.S. civil proceeding,” it added.
The money quote from further down in the article:
Switzerland distinguishes between tax fraud and tax evasion, and does not consider tax evasion to be a crime.
Ha...the Swiss
know we are a failed empire and a bankrupt banana republik. When the NWO finishes taking us down...I fear what all those that our government has wronged are gong to do to us. I don't blame them. But I am innocent!
On the one hand, I see this as a victory,
against our corrupt governement.
But the other hand wonders if the swiss are the most corrupt bankers of all.
This is important news -- Thanks Michael
How does this connect with the Federal Reserve Bank -- Are Swiss banks outside their reach? Is there competition in the banking industry?
Interesting
Octobox
*&^ Constitution --- Constitutional Rationality
Sovereign nations should by
Sovereign nations should by all means be free to determine their own taxation policies. This gives individuals around the world an opportunity to move to escape oppressive tax policies at home. The same goes for all laws. If you don't like the laws at home, you should be free to move, casting your vote with your feet.
This introduces competition among governments to treat citizens with respect. One reason America has been so successful is because it has been the freest nation on earth. Freedom is popular, so people want to come here to live and work. We have traditionally attracted the best and the brightest.
The problem & danger of one world government is that it attempts to take this freedom away. A one world government wants to standardize & homogenize all tax codes and laws. See how difficult it is to change laws in this country? It would be impossible to do it at the global level.
Bump and thanks!
How long do you think we will be able to say we are the most free nation on earth? I agree entirely that a one-world government would be tyrannical, and most likely to shred the Bill of Rights.
------
Libera me, let the truth break, what my fears make..
Libera me......from this dark dream, to the life-stream! --Leslie Phillips
What's next after End the Fed? Repeal the XVI and XVII Amendments!
Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants! Leviticus 20:5
Are they crazy??
So they want our government to foster revolution in their country as well? Set up a puppet 'democratic' regime and crash their economy?
Actually, most of the 52K Americans that have holding overseas are politicians I would imagine. There is no way they will allow this to happen regardless of law.
This country was built on tax evasion.
I may not know the truth, but I know when I'm being lied to...
I may not know the truth, but I know when I'm being lied to...
H.W Bush has Cayman Islands & Swiss...
Offshore accounts and so does Hillary Clinton.
They're inside the list of tax cheats I guarantee it. They always are.
Think for a moment...
Depositors in Swiss banks, worldwide, many in positions of power, are 100% in favor of this stance. You can bet they're quietly arm-twisting in favor of the Swiss. (Think of the last time a famous "Madam" was arrested.)
If only domestic banks had stood up for the privacy of their depositors, and the sacred relationship between depositors and their bankers...
But they didn't because: they no longer look to depositors in time of need, but to the Federal Reserve. And they no longer look to depositors for their policies, but to Congress.
And, ultimately, we, the public, did not stand up for our own rights or the rights of our bankers to answer to us, instead of regulators.
IMissLiberty
IMissLiberty
William Tell has Stretched his Bow
=======
"The consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of the ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it."
- Robert E. Lee, 1866
=======
"The consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of the ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it."
- Robert E. Lee, 1866
I can't blame some Americans
I can't blame some Americans for putting their money outside of this country. I really can't.
The IRS codes are full of
The IRS codes are full of prefferencial tax evasion law..
Live high on the hog & get to deduct it, if you can afford it..
*They have to do it LEGALLY
Good people make the difference, you-no
gold is where you find it .
Well
Lets see.
Hitler called the country "the little pig"
It was the only country deep in the heart of Nazi Europe to remain sovereign.
Could it be that we are looking for an excuse to take down the little pig. The NWO holds grudges. Big grudges. Could this be the beginnings of a bigger plot?
Besides, if this nation stared down Hitler I think they'll have no problem staring down Obama.
But alas without the swiss Hitler would not have had a safe haven for his gold. Maybe this is just smoke and mirrors. I'm positive some congress and senate figures hold offshore accounts full of tarp monies.
No smoke and mirrors
The Swiss was always neutral.
Just like libertarian groups here will always be the home of some people with gun slinger mentality, that should not make us change our standards.
The swiss didn't change theirs for Hitler gold.
Viva Ron Paul!
-------------------------------------------------------
"I think it would be a good idea"
Mahatma Gandhi,
when asked what he thought of Western civilization
Thumbs Up For The Swiss!!!! Who In The....
hell does the US think they are anyway. the "Beast"???
.
.
http://www.ronpaulsingles.com/
Paper Ballots Hand Counted At The Precinct Or Bust
Support WTP Federal Supreme Court Case To Ban All Electronic Voting Or Forget 2010 or 2012
Donate to WTP here: http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/00-Donate.htm
htt
Paper Ballots Hand Counted At The Precinct Or Bust
Support WTP Federal Supreme Court Case To Ban All Electronic Voting Or Forget 2010 or 2012
http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/UPDATE/Update2009-05-11...
Ron Paul 2012
Although important, this issue will pail....
in comparison to what we will know if the fed is audited! Heads will roll.
Ok...let's see what the other countries with banking privacy do.
Discover Costa Rica
Discover Costa Rica
I think if it was handled correctly it would be a good thing
for them to release the info. Say, if US members of congress, or anyone using these banks for tax evasion were to be exposed, then it could be a good thing. But the way our gov. operates, it would most likely be swept under the rug , as ususal. All this bail-out $ is going somewhere! I for one would like to know who and where all these dollars are going. If these off shore banks are undermining our dollar, then lets see the list.
JM
Congress problem
If there is a problem with Congress-folk using offshore conduits for kickbacks, then deal with Congress.
For the rule of law argument, the Swiss are doing what they should as an independent country. In the US our laws should also be enforced, so maybe UBS should close their storefronts inside the US ... or comply with the US rule of law.
It's great that countries are standing up for the rule of law. It will cause some difficulties for international companies, and we can work through those difficulties.
But what about the rule of law?
The Swiss have a law preventing what the US is demanding they do.
The problem is not that / if US government bailout money is being hidden in secret Swiss accounts. The problem is that the US government is handing out the money in the first place!
Where ever it is going, it is being wasted, but that is not justification for the US to encroach on the laws of a sovereign nation. As the article states, the Swiss do not see tax "evasion" as a crime. If the US doesn't want its citizens evading taxes, is should not make the tax burden so oppressive in the first place!
I was thinking of using this info. as evidence in a court of
law. If we had a justice system that would prosecute these illegal off-shore accounts, that would be a start. But I don't see it happening. If our gov. was to obtain a list of US citizens who have off-shore accounts, I'm sure they would use it as a $**t list to extort money from them. As for the rule of law, it might be time for an audit of all the Swiss banks, not to mention the banks in the US, and the Fed. reserve.
JM
it's not illegal
J.M. said "If we had a justice system that would prosecute these illegal off-shore accounts, that would be a start."
It's not illegal to have an "offshore" bank account. Many Americans who live and work outside the States have accounts outside of the States. It's simply a reality of living outside the States.
Some people keep the accounts when they return to the States.
What? The US has no right to
What? The US has no right to audit the Swiss banks in any way. What is illegal about owning a bank account in other countries? NOTHING! the US has no right to do many of the things they are doing and you want to now give them power over another country to audit their banks and defy those countries laws?
I am way confused about your comment or how anyone could possibly think in this manner.
www.retakecongress.com
www.revolutionbroadcasting.com
www.randpaulmoneybomb.com
www.retakecongress.com
www.revolutionbroadcasting.com
www.RJHarrismoneybomb.com
In our present system we are all supposed to, by law, pay tax
on our income. (in which I don't agree with) I'm just saying that if our system allows everyone to keep their money in foreign accounts, how do you tax their income? I can count my money without having to pull off my shoes, so I don't need an off-shore account. But what I'm getting at is it seems most of the American wealth is being transfered to off-shore banks and corporations. How do we keep this wealth in the US? You see, we don't know exactly know how many FRN's are being held by foreign interests. At what point does all the money leave the US? I just hope Dr. Paul's audit the Fed bill passes. That should cure most of these ills.
JM
The Norwegian solution
"I'm just saying that if our system allows everyone to keep their money in foreign accounts, how do you tax their income?"
The Norwegian solution is that the government deducts the taxes before the money even enters our bank accounts. You don't even have to file any kind of tax forms. They inform you on how you are being taxed, and if you don't reply, they assume you agree.
____________Rakafanten_____________
"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato
____________Rakafanten_____________
"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato
Those bank secrecy laws are there for a reason.
Back in the 1930s, the nazis were bribing bankers to get information on German citizens with accounts in Switzerland, and then going home and killing them. The Swiss passed their bank secrecy laws in response.
I've got to hand it to the Swiss government here. They're standing up for their principles.
-jcr
"The problem with trying to child-proof the world, is that it makes people neglect the far more important task of world-proofing the child." -- Hugh Daniel
The USA is operating illegally as a thug enterprise....
They are making a DEMAND from the country of Switzerland that is unconstitutional for their own ends.
Would you hand over your private information to a Mafia???
The Swiss government is right to buck their authority. They should drop the dollar if the US persists.