By Nate Raymond
Dec 19 (Reuters) - Swiss lender Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB)
said two of its bankers and one former employee had been charged
by U.S. authorities, which had accused them of helping U.S.
clients avoid taxes.
The three were indicted over changes of conspiring with
American clients to hide more than $420 million from the U.S.
Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Manhattan had said on Wednesday.
The indictment did not identify the bank concerned but named
Stephan Fellmann, Otto Hueppi and Christof Reist, who it said
were all former client advisers for the unnamed institution.
None of the bankers had been arrested, authorities said.
Banking secrecy is enshrined in Swiss law and tradition but
has recently come under pressure as the United States and other
nations have moved aggressively to tighten tax law enforcement
and demand more openness and cooperation.
U.S. authorities are investigating at least 11 banks,
including Julius Baer, Credit Suisse and other Swiss regional
banks, along with UK-based HSBC Holdings and Israel's Hapoalim,
Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank Ltd and Bank Leumi.
In February, Wegelin & Co, Switzerland's oldest private
bank, was indicted.
UBS AG, the largest Swiss bank, in 2009 paid a $780 million
fine as part of a settlement with U.S. authorities who charged
the bank helped thousands of wealthy Americans hide billions of
dollars in assets in secret Swiss accounts.
ZKB said in a statement it was cooperating with U.S.
authorities. The bank said it could give no details about the
employees due to the ongoing investigation and did not confirm
what they had been changed with.
ZKB bankers Fellmann and Reist could not be reached for
comment. Hueppi declined to comment.
(Additional reporting by Caroline Copley and Martin de
Sa'Pinto)
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