by Swiss Life at its peak was responsible for over billion in portfolios for US clients. © Keystone / Christian Merz Switzerland’s largest insurance company Swiss Life has agreed to pay CHF70 million (.4 million) and enter a deferred prosecution agreement in the United States to resolve accusations it conspired to help wealthy Americans to avoid taxes. The company will pay a .3 million fine plus .1 million in restitution and forfeiture to resolve a charge it conspired to defraud US tax authorities through its private placement life insurance business, Reuters news agency reported on Friday. The three-year agreement concerns Swiss Life’s insurance wrapper business, a type of life insurance policy “wrapped” around an investment portfolio selected by a
Topics:
Swissinfo considers the following as important: 3) Swiss Markets and News, 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy, Featured, Latest News, newsletter
This could be interesting, too:
Guillermo Alcala writes USD/CHF slides to test 0.8645 support with US inflation data on tap
Swissinfo writes Swiss central bank posts CHF62.5bn profit
Nachrichten Ticker - www.finanzen.ch writes Trump-Faktor und Marktbedingungen könnten für neuen Bitcoin-Rekord sorgen
Charles Hugh Smith writes Is Social Media Actually “Media,” Or Is It Something Else?
Swiss Life at its peak was responsible for over $1 billion in portfolios for US clients. © Keystone / Christian Merz
Switzerland’s largest insurance company Swiss Life has agreed to pay CHF70 million ($77.4 million) and enter a deferred prosecution agreement in the United States to resolve accusations it conspired to help wealthy Americans to avoid taxes.
The company will pay a $25.3 million fine plus $52.1 million in restitution and forfeiture to resolve a charge it conspired to defraud US tax authorities through its private placement life insurance business, Reuters news agency reported on Friday.
The three-year agreement concerns Swiss Life’s insurance wrapper business, a type of life insurance policy “wrapped” around an investment portfolio selected by a client. Taxpayers can place stocks, private equity holdings and other assets. The portfolio is not tied to the client but to the policy and accumulates income at a favourable or even zero tax rate until payout time.
Some regulators have expressed concern that wrappers open the door to tax avoidance.
The company’s general counsel accepted the agreement at a hearing in Manhattan. Swiss Life has said it set aside sufficient funds in 2020 to cover the settlement.
After years hounding Swiss banks over tax avoidance, US authorities are increasingly focused on insurance policies as a means to conceal assets. Swiss Life at its peak was responsible for over $1 billion in portfolios for American clients.
You Might Also Like
Weekly SNB Sight Deposits and Speculative Positions: Inflation is there, CHF must Rise
2021-05-17
Update May 17 2021: SNB intervening. Sight Deposits have risen by +2.7 bn CHF, this means that the SNB is intervening and buying Euros and Dollars: The change is +2.7 bn. compared to last week.
Telecoms company Sunrise to axe 660 jobs
2021-04-28
Switzerland’s second biggest telecoms group, Sunrise UPC, says it will cut 600 jobs by the end of 2022, following UPC’s CHF6.8 billion ($7.4 billion) takeover of Sunrise Communications last year.
Foreign firms creating more jobs in Switzerland despite pandemic
2021-04-11
Switzerland has remained an attractive location for foreign firms, creating more jobs last year than in 2019 – despite the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Swiss public television SRF and RTS have reported.
More rare earth metals detected at Swiss wastewater plants
2021-03-12
Rare earth metals like cerium and gadolinium, which are used in industry and hospitals, are increasingly being detected at Swiss wastewater plants, new research shows.
Protecting livestock from predators costs Swiss taxpayers millions
2021-02-07
The federal government spends CHF4 million (around $4.4 million) a year to minimise the damage caused by predators like wolves and lynx.
Switzerland and UK to push ahead with financial services deal
2021-01-27
Britain and Switzerland will press on with plans to strike a trade deal for their vast financial services industries, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday ahead of talks with his Swiss counterpart.
Switzerland hit by widespread malware campaign
2021-01-10
Several security bodies in Switzerland have been targeted by emails that appear to come from official organisations such as banks or the police and contain a password for a zip file. When this file is opened, the computer becomes infected with a trojan called Emotet.
First Covid-19 vaccine approved for Swiss use
2020-12-21
Swiss health regulator Swissmedic has approved the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech. According to the Swiss authorities, the level of protection is over 90% a week after the second dose.
Tags: Featured,Latest news,newsletter