UBS lifts Swiss travel ban
(9 December 2009 – Europe) Switzerland’s UBS has lifted a ban made in April stopping Swiss-based client advisors travelling abroad.
The decision to stop all staff, with client contact in international wealth management, from travelling was due to concerns that they could be detained by foreign authorities amid a high-profile tax case in the United States, reported Swiss paper NZZ am Sonntag.
A senior UBS employee was detained by American authorities as part of the investigation into whether the bank helped U.S. clients evade tax through Swiss bank accounts.
The ban has been lifted on the proviso that anyone travelling has to adhere to strict company guidelines; advisors can start travelling again once they had been trained in and tested on the company’s guidelines for the individual country were they will be visiting.
A UBS spokesperson told Reuters the ban had only been imposed temporarily while the company reviewed its cross-border policy.
The bank has reviewed its whole cross-border policy and once the bank had put in place had the appropriate policies; the bank then had to look at each country individually.
UBS was also required to hand over the names of over 4,450 clients for the investigation, which could still see the bank face further legal action from other countries.
The next government UBS will have to face up to over the allegations is Canada; a Canadian minister said that they are prepared to take the bank to court if necessary to compel it to hand over details of Canadian account holders.
The bank has endured having billions pulled from its clients accounts and does not expect to win back assets from clients as it struggles to rebuild its reputation.
A senior UBS employee was detained by American authorities as part of the investigation into whether the bank helped U.S. clients evade tax through Swiss bank accounts.
The ban has been lifted on the proviso that anyone travelling has to adhere to strict company guidelines; advisors can start travelling again once they had been trained in and tested on the company’s guidelines for the individual country were they will be visiting.
A UBS spokesperson told Reuters the ban had only been imposed temporarily while the company reviewed its cross-border policy.
The bank has reviewed its whole cross-border policy and once the bank had put in place had the appropriate policies; the bank then had to look at each country individually.
UBS was also required to hand over the names of over 4,450 clients for the investigation, which could still see the bank face further legal action from other countries.
The next government UBS will have to face up to over the allegations is Canada; a Canadian minister said that they are prepared to take the bank to court if necessary to compel it to hand over details of Canadian account holders.
The bank has endured having billions pulled from its clients accounts and does not expect to win back assets from clients as it struggles to rebuild its reputation.
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