LLB Verwaltung (Switzerland), a Swiss-based private bank, has reached a $10.7 million settlement and entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice for committing tax evasion after recommendations made by its compliance officer went ignored.
According to the statement of facts, LLB-Switzerland and some of its employees, including members of the bank’s management, conspired with a Swiss asset manager to conceal U.S. clients’ assets and income from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through various means, including using Swiss bank secrecy protections and nominee companies set up in tax haven jurisdictions. At its peak, LLB-Switzerland had approximately 100 U.S. clients holding nearly $200 million in assets, most of which were in the names of nominee entities.
