All articles by Ilya Timofeyev
Ilya Timofeyev
Credit Suisse pays ?150m to settle German probe
Credit Suisse is to pay German prosecutors 150m ($206m) in an out-of-court settlement to end investigations into whether its employees assisted German-based clients evade tax. The figure dwarfs the 50m one-off fee Swiss private bank Julius Baer paid German authorities in April to end similar investigations into tax evasion. The investigations were prompted by disclosures from German clients and data acquired and collected by authorities on undeclared assets held by Credit Suisse and Julius Baer.
Technical difficulties?
Global spending on private banking IT systems is expected to top $32bn by 2015 as wealth managers drive for greater efficiencies while grappling with rising regulation and demanding clients Ilya Timofeyev discusses budgets, back office and single customer view with Credit Suisse, UniCredit, Citi Private Bank and Barclays Wealth.
UBS trader loss increased to $2.3bn
The London-based investment banking business of troubled Swiss banking giant UBS confirmed it lost $2.3bn in its recent unauthorised trading scandal, $300m more than its original estimate. Last week, Kweku Adoboli, a UBS trader within its global synthetic equity business, was arrested and charged by UK authorities with fraud by abuse of position.
UBS trader loses $2bn; 3Q results could suffer
A UBS investment bank trader has lost $2bn in unauthorised transactions dealing a major blow to the Swiss banking giants efforts to put its troubles of the past three years behind it. UBS reported group pre-tax profit of CHF 1.7bn ($2.12bn) in June 2011, meaning a $2bn hit from the bad trades could push the Swiss bank into reporting a loss in Q3 worth several hundred million Swiss francs.
HMRC widens tax probe to 5300 HSBC clients
The UK tax regulator, HMRC, is investigating more than 5,000 high net worth (HNW) UK investors with Swiss HSBC Private Bank accounts over possible tax evasion. HMRC has written to 4,500 UK-based clients of HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) asking them to choose between disclosing their untaxed assets or facing investigation. PBI understands about 800 HSBC clients have already been sent Code of Practice 9 letters, which are used to investigate cases of deliberate fraud.
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Krawcheck leaves BofA after major restructure
Industry heavyweight Sallie Krawcheck is leaving US banking giant Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA) after a sweeping management restructure saw her position subsumed. The restructure will see David Darnell take over managing the global wealth and investment management (GWIM) business among others. Darnell and Tom Montag were appointed to newly-created positions of co-chief operating officers, accountable for all of the company’s operating units, in the restructure.
Switzerland must avoid second US tax deal: SBA
Switzerland must avoid a second bilateral tax agreement with the US and continue to fight efforts to restrict banking secrecy, the chairman of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) has urged. In a sweeping speech ahead of Swiss Bankers Day, Patrick Odier said unfortunately the bilateral treaty on UBS did not mark a final end to cross-border tax investigations. Odiers comments come as US regulators continue to apply pressure to foreign private banks, including Credit Suisse, to disclose tax information on US taxpayers offshore accounts.
RBC starts trust services in Singapore, UK hiring push
RBC Wealth Management has launched a Singapore-based trust company as a part of its ongoing business expansion in Asia. Headed by managing director Hilary May, RBC Trust Company (Singapore) is to provide trust, estate planning, and fiduciary services to RBC Wealth Management clients from around the world.
Swiss franc spoils BSI’s 1H results
BSI has become the latest Swiss bank to report a decline in assets under management (AuM) due to the rapid appreciation of the Swiss franc, with client assets dropping 2% in the first six month of 2011. BSIs AuM stood at CHF74.7bn ($93.3bn) as at 31 June 2011, compared with CHF76.2bn as at 31 December 2010.
Asia’s wealth to triple by 2015: Julius Baer
Asias private wealth market is to reach $15.81trn by 2015 with the number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) rising to 2.82m, a Julius Baer study predicts. The Julius Baer Wealth Report estimated the number of Asian HNWIs in 10 core countries will more than double by 2015 from its present level of 1.16m.