Get India's Stolen Money Back

The Guardian, January 26, 2010 Large companies should reveal how much of their profits they pay in tax to developing nations to show they comply with local corporation tax regimes, Stephen Timms, the Treasury minister, will say tomorrow as part of a three-pronged effort to boost tax revenues in poor countries. Developing nations must also be given access to secret tax agreements between western governments and other poor nations together with expensive technical support to help them rein in tax-dodging companies, he will tell the first meeting of a high-level tax committee at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Paris-based club for the world's 16 richest nations. Timms wants the OECD to adopt the measures as part of a wider crackdown on tax avoidance by corporations. "The agenda reflects the concern that developing countries also need to benefit from the new co-operative tax environment the OECD is working towards," he said. The government esti...

Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2010 ZURICH--UBS AG Tuesday issued an employee code explicitly banning staff from helping clients cheat on their taxes, as part of the Swiss bank's effort to restore its reputation after a messy U.S. probe into hidden offshore accounts. "We do not provide assistance to clients or colleagues in acts aimed at deceiving tax authorities," according to the code, which is prefaced with remarks from UBS Chairman Kaspar Villiger and Chief Executive Oswald Grübel. The code, which also addresses issues such as financial crime, competition, confidentiality and diversity, is meant as a response to wrongdoing in UBS's U.S. offshore arm, which has since been shuttered. OSWALD GRÜBEL The eight-page code also lays out potential sanctions against employees who violate it, including warnings, demotion or dismissal. "In the new UBS, we will uncompromisingly treat our reputation as our most valuable asset and we will protect it fiercely," Me...

Tax Analysts, January 19, 2010 Swiss banks have suffered a large outflow of assets as a result of the ongoing Italian tax amnesty. Switzerland's three largest wealth management banks, UBS AG, Credit Suisse Group AG, and Julius Baer Group, may have lost as much as CHF 18 billion (about $17.7 billion) to the ongoing Italian tax amnesty, according to media reports. The Italian amnesty, which allows taxpayers to declare offshore assets and pay a one-time fine, was originally scheduled to end on December 15, 2009, but has been extended to April 30, 2010. (For prior coverage, see Doc 2009-27696  or 2009 WTD 241-5 .) The fine for those who came clean by December 15, 2009, was 5 percent of the total assets. The fine increases to 6 percent for those who report by February 28, 2010, and will rise to 7 percent for those who report by April 30. Also, Italian taxpayers had to remove their assets from Swiss banks and return them to Italy to qualify for the amnesty as long as Switzerland rem...

New York Times, January 18, 2010 From his home in the quiet village of Rorbas, outside Zurich, Rudolf M. Elmer is chipping away at the centuries-old traditions of Swiss banking secrecy. Enlarge This Image Rudolf M. Elmer ran the Caribbean operations of the Swiss bank Julius Baer for eight years until he was dismissed in 2002. Mr. Elmer, who ran the Caribbean operations of the Swiss bank Julius Baer for eight years until he was dismissed in 2002, moved to Mauritius in the Indian Ocean and began parceling out to global tax authorities what he said were the secrets of his former employer. Now back in his native country, he continues to disclose the inner workings of Julius Baer - one of many Swiss institutions that investigators say help clients evade billions of dollars in taxes by routing money through offshore havens in the Caribbean and Switzerland. "It is a global problem, and I am only the messenger who provides the bad news, or even better, the truth," Mr. Elmer, 54...

Dear all  Something very interesting and important is taking place—Human rights organizations and Financial Integrity/Transparency organizations are joining hands-- on a Global Scale-- to pris open Tax Havens and lift the veil of financial secrecy. Is India aware of it and listening? Financial Integrity Meets Human Rights http://www.gfip.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=287 Professor R. Vaidyananthan

Court issues notice to Centre on PIL No single person whose name is given by Germany was proceeded against No vigorous steps being taken in Hasan Ali Khan case New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre on the petition, filed by the former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani and others, seeking vital documents on black money stashed away in foreign banks. A Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan issued notice after hearing senior counsel Anil Divan, who said the Centre was withholding vital documents. Inaction The public interest litigation petition alleged inaction on the part of the Centre in bringing back black money from foreign banks. The petitioners had sought 21 documents and letters, including the Indian government’s communication with German authorities, UBS AG Switzerland and LGT Bank, Liechtenstein, a tax haven. They had also sought certain documents on the case registered against Pune-based busin...

Faced with the daunting task of unearthing black money allegedly stashed abroad, the Centre on Tuesday said it would pursue amendment to the double taxation avoidance treaty (DTAT) with Switzerland to incorporate disclosure clause to force Swiss banks to share information about account holders suspected of parking illegal money. Solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam informed a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan that the Centre was also seriously considering invoking the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case of Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali Khan to force foreign entities to share vital information with ED. When Subramaniam submitted to the court the status report of ED's probe into Khan's case in a sealed cover, petitioner Ram Jethmalani's counsel Anil Divan objected to it, saying why could the Centre not make public the investigation into a case which would be in national interest. Jethmalani, in his public interest litigatio...