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Question Tax Evasion Heaven
質問避稅天堂
The Swiss banking giant UBS on Wednesday reached a final deal with the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service in which it will ultimately disclose names and account details for more than 4,450 wealthy Americans suspected of tax evasion.
瑞士銀行業巨頭瑞士聯合銀行(UBS)與美國司法部及美國國稅局，在周三就最終曝光4450名疑為避稅的美國富人的名單，及賬戶明細的事宜達成了一致。
Details of the settlement were unveiled Wednesday by the I.R.S. commissioner, Douglas Shulman.
美國國稅局(I.R.S)專員道格拉斯?舒爾曼于當天披露了協議的部分細節。
The agreement, he said, also allows the Swiss government to work with other Swiss financial institutions to disclose the identities of other Americans who have hidden money offshore.
他指出,這項協議還允許瑞士政府與其他瑞士金融機構合作，以確定其他將資金移至海外的美國人的身份。
UBS will notify the clients whose names are to be disclosed in coming weeks, Mr. Shulman said. Clients still have time to reveal themselves before a voluntary disclosure program ends Sept. 23 to potentially avoid prosecution and steeper penalties and fines, he said.
舒爾曼強調，瑞士聯合銀行會在今后幾周內會通知那些將要被曝光的客戶。自行曝光項目于9月23日結束，因此相關客戶還有時間自首，以盡可能避免被起訴和更為嚴厲的處罰，他指出。
Scores of Americans have come forward in recent months to disclose their secret accounts to the I.R.S. That group of people, along with the "thousands" of names Mr. Shulman said that UBS would disclose, brings the total of UBS-related names to be disclosed to the I.R.S. to more than 5,000. The accounts at one point held over $18 billion, he said.
近幾個月，大批美國人向國稅局呈報了自己的秘密賬戶。這些人再加上舒爾曼提到的將由瑞士聯合銀行曝光的數千人，使得向國稅局曝光的瑞銀相關人數超過5000。他稱這些賬戶曾擁有180億美元。
"These are the accounts we most wanted"，Mr. Shulman said. But he said the United States government retained the right to resume its legal efforts to force banks to turn over names.
“這些是我們最想要曝光的賬戶，”舒爾曼說。但他也指出美國政府保留使用法律手段來迫使銀行提供逃稅者姓名的權利。
The settlement marks a turning point in a closely watched battle between UBS, the world’s largest private bank, and federal prosecutors and tax investigators who suspect it of selling tax evasion services to tens of thousands of wealthy Americans.
這項協議是近期備受關注的美國政府與瑞士聯合銀行，也是全球最大的私人銀行對抗的轉折點。聯邦檢察官和稅務調查人員懷疑，瑞銀向數千美國富人提供避稅服務。
The landmark settlement peels back layers of Swiss banking secrecy, and is expected to provide a road map for the authorities as they try to crack down on tax evasion by Americans who, through private banks and other Swiss-based financial intermediaries, use offshore accounts that go undeclared to the I.R.S.
這些意義重大的協議將揭開瑞士銀行業的層層機密，還可能向試圖打擊避稅的政府部門提供指導。避稅手段是：一些美國人通過私人銀行和其他瑞士金融中介機構使用海外賬戶而不向國稅局申報自己的收人。
The agreement will result in us receiving "What we wanted all along," Mr. Shulman said. He said the I.R.S. would receive "an unprecedented amount of information on taxpayers" who evade taxes by hiding money offshore through UBS.
協議“將帶給我們想知道的一切，”舒爾曼說。他指出國稅局會收到“前所未見的大量納稅人信息”，這些人通過瑞士聯合銀行將資金轉移到海外來避稅。
"There is no mere keyhole into the world of bank secrecy," he said, but instead represents "a major step forward in piercing the veil of bank secrecy." Switzerland has 370 days to examine the accounts of the 4,450 clients and plans to allocate about 70 lawyers and accountants to the task. The effort will cost the government about 40 million Swiss francs, or $37 million, said Hans-Rudolf Merz, the Swiss president and finance minister. Mr. Merz called on other Swiss banks to stick to the law and regulations in light of the UBS case.
“沒有什么簡單的萬能鑰匙來揭開銀行業的秘密世界，”他說,但此協議還是象征了“揭穿銀行機密所前進的一大步。”瑞士有370天時間來檢查這4450名客戶的賬戶，并計劃分派70名律師和會計來完成這項工作。瑞士聯邦總統兼財政部部長漢斯·魯道夫·梅爾茨說，瑞士政府將為此付出4000萬瑞士法郎、合3700萬美元的費用。梅爾茨呼吁其他瑞士銀行要以瑞士聯邦銀行案為戒，嚴格遵守法律規范。
The settlement brings to a close a civil case filed by the Justice Department, on behalf of the I.R.S in February against UBS that sought to force the bank to turn over the names and account details of 52,000 American clients. UBS fiercely resisted that effort, arguing that it violated Swiss financial secrecy laws, as it lobbied senior Washington officials.
在國稅局授權下，美國司法部于今年2月份起訴瑞士聯邦銀行，迫使其交出5.2萬個美國客戶的姓名和賬戶明細。瑞士聯邦銀行強烈反對這項要求，并在向華盛頓高級官員游說中，堅稱此判決違反了瑞士金融機密法令。但隨著這項協議的簽署，本案也告一段落。
That month, UBS paid $780 million to settle criminal charges that it helped American clients evade taxes on nearly $20 billion stashed in offshore accounts. UBS turned over approximately 250 client names as part of that deal, and will turn over more in coming months. Some 150 Americans are under criminal investigation for tax evasion as part of the investigation.
同樣在2月，瑞銀因協助美國客戶通過海外賬戶避稅（涉及200億美元）而遭受刑事指控，并為此支付7.8億美元。作為協議的一部分，瑞銀交出了大約250名客戶名單，在今后的幾個月中還將提供更多姓名。在調查中，約有150名美國人由于逃稅而接受刑事調查。
