Standard Chartered Bank, whose headquarters are in London, has agreed to forfeit a small sum to quash the possibility of prosecution for its Swiss office helping Americans evade tax.

The sum of $6,337,000 has been handed over and the bank has also promised to make SCB Switzerland:

• make a complete disclosure of its cross-border activities;
• provide detailed information on an account-by-account basis for accounts in which US taxpayers have a direct or indirect interest;
• co-operate in treaty requests for account information;
• provide detailed information about other banks that transferred funds into secret accounts or that accepted funds when secret accounts were closed; and
• agree to close accounts of accountholders who fail to come into compliance with US reporting obligations.

SCB Switzerland is a private bank with a single office located in Geneva, Switzerland. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the main company, which decided in early 2014 to cease its Swiss private banking operations for commercial reasons. It is now in voluntary formal liquidation. Subject to Swiss regulatory approval, SCB Switzerland expects to return its banking license at the end of 2015.

Says the DoJ: "Through its employees and others, SCB Switzerland knew or should have known that some of the US persons who opened or maintained accounts at SCB Switzerland may not have complied with their US income tax and reporting obligations. By establishing and maintaining such accounts, SCB Switzerland provided assistance to certain US persons in evading their US tax obligations."

SBC opened and kept accounts for Americans in the names of trusts created by American Express that affiliates of the bank had inherited and maintained and these served as the nominal holders of bank accounts that held assets that actually belonged to those Americans.