Top UBS private banker detained by US authorities in tax probe
A senior banker at UBS has been detained by authorities in the US investigating whether the Swiss banking giant helped its American clients evade tax, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Martin Liechti, the Zurich-based head of North and South America for UBS’ international wealth management business, was held in connection with a US Department of Justice investigation into investment advice that UBS gave its American private banking clients between 2000 and last year.
One senior bank employee was “briefly detained” by US authorities as a “material witness', the firm said in a statement.
UBS also confirmed that it was also being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over whether UBS client advisers “engaged in activities in relation to their US-domiciled clients that triggered an obligation for UBS Switzerland to register with the SEC as a broker-dealer and/or investment adviser”.
The bank said it was co-operating with the investigations.
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
reddit
StumbleUpon
