U.S. wealthy will no longer be concealed by Credit Suisse

On Sunday the Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported that Swiss bank Credit Suisse started closing down the offshore accounts of U.S. clients who have not declared the money to the U.S. authorities. The newspaper said that there are about 2,500-5,000 U.S. clients having their accounts worth about 3 billion francs.

U.S. offshore clients were given the option to either move their accounts to Credit Suisse’s Private Advisors subsidiary which reports the accounts to the U.S. tax authorities or get a check. According to the unnamed source from the bank Credit Suisse is just taking measures to address individual cases while it is planning a more general withdrawal from the U.S. offshore business.

While the bank spokesperson declined to confirm this report it was still noted that foreign authorities are applying tougher approach on offshore wealth management in recent times.

"CS sticks to all valid rules and regulations in various countries," a spokesman told the newspaper.

According to the newspaper report the bank was writing and sending its customers special letters where they were instructed to sign a form where they should reveal their incomes to tax authorities of the United States.