Wegelin bank to pull out of US

Swiss private bank Wegelin announced on Tuesday that it is to stop doing business in the United States.

The St Gallen-based bank, Switzerland's oldest, said the decision had been taken in response to stricter measures introduced in the US against tax dodgers and planned changes to estate tax, which would make some non-US citizens liable to tax if they inherited US securities.

In a letter to investors it said Swiss banks were likely to find themselves in an untenable position, as they would be expected to know which clients were liable to pay US tax – "an impossible undertaking", given the lack of clear definitions in the matter.

The danger of inadvertently making false declarations to the US tax authorities will be too great, it explained.

It added that it believes the US overestimates its attraction as a financial centre, and is advising its clients to get out of all US securities.

The decision comes a week after US tax authorities reached a deal with the Swiss government which will see bank UBS hand over details of almost 4,500 suspected tax cheats.

swissinfo.ch

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Beverly Wassen , United States

I am not a so-called "True Christian" so does that mean I still have to pay tax to support lazy welfare cheat that many "True Christian" depended on the US government on? I am not rich but I work hard to earn my meager income to support my family and still pay taxes so that many lazy people with 5 kids eat? Is that your so-called "True Christian" teach? Unlimited taxes to support wars and lazy welfare cheats?

Don't bring that phony "True Christian" belief of yours upon me since I'm not convinced you are an honest person.

Crying over spilled milk? All this holier-than-thou, America is moralizing hypocrite and is going to fail?

Here's a good question: Who benefited most from Secret banking 60 years ago...?

BTW, the US is blamed alot but all of the EU (at least France and Germany=EU2) is surrounding little Switzerland and pounding on the "banking secrecy" as much as evil Amerikkka.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,554284,00.html

When Jesus said give unto Caesar what is Caesars, he was leaving the decision up to you what your caesar deserves.
So, look at your modern day Caesar and think, "What really belongs to this man? What does he lawfully (under Gods Law, not mans) deserve?
Then act on it.

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Dear Beverly, your ignorance of reality is pitiful. It makes me sad. We are being destroyed due to our collective lack of knowledge and inability to discern lies from truth.

A rich man has as much chance to get into heaven as a camel does to pass through the eye of a needle - or something like that....

Know how many politicians who claim to be "good christians" are millionaires? check it out, and be sure to check out both sides of the aisle.

The fact is that when religion is used as an excuse for collecting money bad things are coming. Always. Otherwise, Jesus would have sent out for pizza rather than transforming fish and bread into a happy meal for thousands of people.

One doesn't require money to worship.

At the same time, money is important for our lives in the current economic system which exists. If the government was to legalize bartering and encourage it with incentives, we could rid ourselves of the financial overlords within a few years....

Beverly, Jesus says nothing that implies giving government rights to tax their people. He only speaks to a responsibility to pay the taxes levied by government. Two very different things.

It was inevitable that this would happen. Now that the U.S. is left with a high tech military and a collapsed economy, the whole world will be pulling out of the U.S. and preparing to defend itself from the U.S. and Britain. As far as the British crown was concerned, the U.S. was founded in order to pay taxes to the British empire and nothing much has changed except the names of the institutions that do the tax collection for the Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Bilderbergers. You can only tax and make corrupt laws for the goose that lays the golden egg for so long and then the whole world system dies. A good guess would be that those are the families that had money in the Swiss bank accounts and were not paying taxes on them. That's why the whistle blowers at UBS get jail time instead of the Rockefellers. When you have enough money to buy Kings, nations, empires and presidents, the rules everyone else lives by don't apply to you. But don't worry, God says in the book of James that the rich men of the earth should weep and howl for their miseries that will come upon them. Their riches are corrupted and their garments are moth eaten. The cries of their laborers who have not been paid for reaping down their fields have reached the ears of Almighty God and the corruption of their riches which was held back by fraud from the laborers will be a witness against them and shall burn them with fire. Justice might not be done today, but someday God will see to it.

For Beverly Wassen, United States - since you were raised in the True - not False - Christian Religion, and you believe so strongly in "the right of the UNITED STATES to impose income tax upon all Americans, as, Jesus truly points out in Matthew 11 12:14 and numerous other scripture," do you believe equally strongly in the right of the UNITED STATES to bomb the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan, as Jesus truly points out in...oh, wait a minute, isn't there something about "turn the other cheek"? Gee, maybe that was just a mistranslation, not part of the True Christian Religion, which might translate that phrase as "burn the foreign weak."

@CPA
The biggest cheats are the FED and IRS. They exist btw because private cartel prints money and lends it to the government. The government spends like a drunken sailor and that is why it taxes its citizens to death. Now, after the bailouts that the government gave to the banksters, they would need to milk their citizens even more. Your constitution btw does not permit personal income tax. If I were in charge of the foreign banks, I would run away from the States as fast as I can.

I have been raised in the True Christian Religion and truly believe in the right of the UNITED STATES to impose income tax upon all Americans, as, Jesus truly points out in Matthew 11
12:14 and numerous other scriptures

The only Americans who would gain if the income tax was abolished would be Canadian women like Eldon, and Swiss bankers.
CPA , United States

Apparently, the first two people writing comments believe in the right of the UNITED STATES to impose slavery status upon all Americans, as, income tax is the 'harvesting' of the labor of 'owned slaves'.

The only Americans who would suffer an economic crisis, if the FED, the IRS and the income tax was abolished would be the accounting and lawyer predators who feast upon the lives of their fellow Americans.

Good.
One more tax evading rich bank is out.
======"The danger of inadvertently making false declarations to the US tax authorities will be too great, it explained"
Finally, it recognizes that IRS is cracking down harshly on such cheaters.

Absolutely none of this Banking Crisis would be ongoing if the U.S. Law Enforcement Agencies would work together and investigate incidents. This is no longer just an American Crisis.

It's not surprising that the US is becoming the world's worst place to do business.