UBS – Aiding tax evaders? German prosecutors raid UBS offices.

Here we are again. UBS paid fines of €300 million in 2014 to settle charges of aiding tax evaders in Germany. It also says it has overhauled the way it operates, requiring clients to prove that the assets they leave with the bank has been taxed. Some UBS employees may not have received the memo?

This last week of September 2017, around 130 attorneys and investigators fanned out across Germany raiding UBS offices. Raids in other countries seem likely as the basis of these new raids is a whistleblower who reported the names of some 2,000 potential tax evaders not just restricted to Germany.

North-Rhine Westphalia prosecutors who are protagonists in the current raids has so far rewarded a small amount of whistleblowers with around €19 million. Using this data, they have prosecuted banks recovering about €782 million in fines and back taxes – primarily from Swiss banks.

Prosecutors  have declined comment as to whether they plan to go only after UBS clients who have evaded tax, or if they will launch prosecution against the bank itself once more for their role.

Put in context, UBS is one of many banks in Germany in the past years to have been embroiled in a massive tax avoidance scandals. This does not diminish the misbehavior in any way but rather points to the necessity to improve oversight, governance and transparency. But more importantly to the character of leadership in the finance institutions?