Reply #68: I'm not sure the Swiss Courts have any jurisdiction

[Hansel]

I think the Swiss courts are going to take a pass on this one.

UBS exec admits bank’s sham tax shelters broke U.S. law
http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080717/REG/749563333

UBS admitted it broke U.S. law in setting up sham offshore tax shelters for wealthy Americans and agreed to work with U.S. authorities in reviewing 19,000 accounts to identify clients who may have committed tax fraud.

"Our compliance system had failures, and misconduct appears to have occurred,” Mark Branson, chief financial officer of UBS’s global wealth management unit, told a Senate panel today. “It is apparent now that our controls and supervision were inadequate.”

Mr. Branson also said UBS will discontinue offering offshore banking and securities services to American clients through branches that aren’t licensed in the U.S. The firm allowed its Swiss bankers to market securities and banking services on U.S. soil without a proper license from 2000 to 2007, according to a report released today by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

snip

“The U.S. government, particularly in this economy, is not going to blow up an international financial institution with a criminal indictment,’’ Jacob Frenkel, a former federal criminal and SEC prosecutor, said in an interview. “That, however, provides no protection or insulation for civil and criminal actions against individuals whose conduct is squarely within the focus of this alleged fraud.”


So basically it looks like they are not going after UBS criminally, but are going after some of its employees for civil and criminal activity, and the tax evaders. UBS has paid a fine and has agreed to release the names. I'm not sure they have a choice. What jurdiction would Swiss courts have over illegitimate and illegal activity conducted by "rouge" employees of one of its corporations operating in the U.S.? This is how they might get around the Swiss laws: These employees were operating without proper U.S. licenses outside of UBS policies on U.S. soil with clients who were fully aware they were breaking the law (conspiracy) so these were not legitimate banking transactions and have no protection under the Swiss privacy laws.