The New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO), whose deadline closed on January 4th, is expected to result in £500 million retrieved in unpaid taxes and subsequent penalties over the next three years. The number of declarations is far below that of a similar scheme run by the HMRC in 2007, which yielded 45 000 disclosures. Yet according to HMRC statements, the department is not disappointed with the achieved results, as it has dealt with “more niche banks” with higher-asset base clients.

Having completed the initial steps of its NDO, the HMRC is promising to increase efforts into investigating tax evasion which utilizes offshore accounts to hide assets. The department is currently in the process of acquiring data on suspected tax evaders from over 300 banks across the world. Dave Hartnett, Secretary for Tax at the HMRC commenting on the policy, said “…now [that] the NDO is closed, [the HMRC] is beginning the job of using the data we have obtained from banks to identify people who have not made disclosures despite having hidden their money offshore”. Although many tax experts believe that the tax amnesty will be ultimately less effective than the original attempt, as alleged evaders would have already taken an opportunity to disclose.

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In order to save what remains of Switzerland’s weakened privacy laws the SBA has come up with an alternative to automatic international financial information sharing, as is proposed now. It is envisaged that a withholding tax could be levied on the interest, dividends, investment income and capital gains generated by accounts held by foreigners.

The tax will be levied at the level of the country of origin for the funds. Upon collection the tax funds will be transferred between appropriate banks, with client information only being seen by the institutions. The corresponding governmental bodies will eventually receive the funds, thereby satisfying required tax laws while still respecting the privacy of the involved clients.

The withholding tax proposal has received general acceptance from the Swiss finance industry and is being actively endorsed by the SBA. The idea still requires Swiss governmental approval. Currently it is thought that the withholding tax would be held applicable to European Union citizens and nationals of the 14 countries with which Switzerland holds OECD level Double Taxation Treaties.

On the 11th of September, Eric Woerth, French Budget Minister, announced that the French Government will be stepping up its efforts to fight offshore tax evasion by demanding further assistance from French located banks. The government wants to see banks providing details and identities of account holders transferring money to offshore accounts and tax havens.

Provisions already exist within French law for authorities to request similar information from financial institutions. Although, the information that can currently be obtained is limited and often times considered to be inadequate in scope. It is the hope of Eric Woerth that the systems by which the information is obtained are made more systematic and the range of obtainable data is extended.

Eric Woerth stated that a proposal is currently being drafted and expected to be completed by September, which will mandate that banks within France disclose information concerning any accounts which see funds transfer above preset amounts to specified off shore locations. The French banking federation, la Fédération Bancaire Française, which represents all banks located within France, has confirmed that they are fully prepared to cooperate with the proposal.

Following swiftly upon news that the US Government and UBS had reached a settlement in their offshore account tax evasion dispute, the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced that they too will engage in discussions with UBS in regards to divulging information about Canadian national tax evaders.

On the 21st of August it was announced by Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Canadian National Revenue Minister, that the Canadian Government will approach UBS in an effort to uncover information about Canadians using offshore accounts with UBS to evade their tax liability. The meetings have been scheduled for the 2nd of September. According to Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Canada will pursue this information through legal action if UBS is unwilling to cooperate. Further comments indicated that Jean-Pierre Blackburn will be petitioning Jim Flaherty, Canadian Finance Minister, to allow an alteration of Canadian law which would create easier legal pathways for the pursuit of such information.

According to the Canadian Revenue Agency there have been seven Canadian nationals who have come forward with information about their offshore accounts during the legal action between the US and UBS. Caitlin Workman, a spokeswoman for the CRA, has stated that Canada will bring to the discussion two specific cases of Canadians using UBS for tax evasion through offshore accounts, although no further details on the perpetrators was given.

The recent legal wrangle between the Swiss bank UBS and the US Department of Justice (DoJ), in a case filed on behalf of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS), looks like it could come to a relatively placid end. It was announced that the two parties have come to an agreement “in principal”.

While the US originally sought the names of 52,000 American UBS account holders, it now seems willing to settle for the 5,000 largest accounts. The sought after names are all under suspicion of evasion of US taxes through their Swiss offshore accounts. Exact details are yet to be brokered, but the situation looks like it could end with no fines imposed on UBS.

Swiss diplomat Michael Ambuehl stated that the current incarnation of the deal would not breach Switzerland’s strict privacy laws. There are provisions in within the law which can allow for the transfer of names in specific cases of tax evasion, and while this agreement is larger than that which has been seen previously, it will be made within the bounds of the those laws.

The news comes with a sigh of relief to UBS who paid US$780 million and handed over 250 client names in February. UBS is scheduled to publish their three month financial results soon, which are expected to show a US$1 billion loss. Any further loss in clients or potential deterioration of image would not see this improve in the future. UBS shares rose 5.8% upon release of the news.