U.S. moves toward legal action against Swiss bank: sources

[dipsydoodle]

(Reuters) - U.S. authorities are moving toward taking legal action against Wegelin & Co, which could lead to an indictment of one of Switzerland's last pure private banks, on charges that it enabled wealthy Americans to evade taxes, according to two persons with knowledge of the case.

Negotiations in the case have reached a critical stage, with an indictment possible though the bank is seeking a deferred prosecution agreement, which would be less damaging. The outcome depends on how prosecutors, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Treasury Department agree to treat the matter, the sources said.

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The crackdown started around 2007 with an investigation of UBS AG (UBSN.VX), Switzerland's largest bank. It has since spread to the entire Swiss banking industry. Dozens of U.S. clients and at least two dozen Swiss bankers have been charged, in moves that have strained U.S.-Swiss relations.

Albena Bjorck, a spokeswoman for Wegelin, declined to comment on Friday when asked whether the bank was considering the possibility of being indicted. Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, declined to comment.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/09/us-swiss-bank-wegelin-idUSTRE80808X20120109

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

1. When are they going to haul in Phil Gramm...

... vice chairman of UBS for what he did while serving in Congress? You know, sneaking in amendments and riders to bills in the middle of the night, hours before the final votes? Foreclosure Phil.