Julius Baer Group, a private bank in Switzerland, on Friday, said it has attained the last settlement phase with the US Department of Justice regarding the legacy cross-border private banking business in the US. Under the terms of the Deferred Prosecution Deal, the Swiss bank agreed to pay 547.25 million US dollar in order to evade prosecution from the US government.
The Bank said that it had already taken supplies in June and December, adding this capital, and reserved them to reflect on its 2015 financial results. According to Daniel J. Sauter, Julius Baer's Chairman, the final settlement with the US Department of Justice reflects the Bank's active cooperation with the authorities.
Boris F.J. Collardi, Chief Executive Officer of Julius Baer, said that the resolution marks a significant milestone for the Bank and also enables it to fully concentrate on its core business and future achievements. The bank admitted that it aided its American customers to conceal their assets worth billions of dollars from income tax authorities.
According to Reuters, Fabio Frazzetto and Daniela Casadei, former customer advisors in Julius Baer appealed guilty to intrigue charges in Manhattan federal court and the US jury approved a delayed prosecution deal with Julius Baer. Previously in 2011, Fabio and Casadei both were accused of aiding American taxpayers conceal over 600 million US dollar in foreign accounts and avoid paying tax.
Both agreed to cooperate in further investigations in order to earn mercy at sentencing as the Swiss government does not expel its citizens. The US foreign tax investigations have already charged many advisers, lawyers and bankers billions of dollars as a settlement. Last week, the US Department of Justice announced the last clearance in a program which caused 80 banks paying 1.36 billion US dollar to evade prosecution.
Julius Baer, whose US assets valued at $4.7 billion previously, gained $87 million as profit and $219 million as revenue on undeclared accounts from the year 2001 to 2011, Bloomberg said citing US Attorney Preet Bharara. The Bank not only failed to notice the tax evaders but also supported them to break the nation's law, Preet Bharara added.
In late 2009, the Bank tried to approach the US government authorities actively in order to discuss their activities, however, the Swiss regulators requested the Bank not to do so as it affects the government. When Julius Baer approached US authorities, it took various measures like conducting a fast and strong internal investigation and providing a spontaneous flow of unvarnished facts to the US government, according to Preet Bharara. In 2009, UBS AG, Julius Baer's rival, agreed to pay 780 million US dollar under the delayed prosecution agreement. In 2013, Wegelin & Co was forced to pay 74 million US dollar as a settlement.
The bank agreed to pay the US authorities a total of $547.25 million as a final settlement in order to evade prosecution. Julius Baer said that this settlement will enable it to focus on main business.
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