UBS banker detained in US tax investigation
Department of Justice probes wealth management advice from 2000 to 2007
A senior banker at UBS has been held by US authorities investigating whether
the bank assisted US citizens evade their domestic tax obligations.
According to the Financial Times the banker is Martin Liechti, who heads up
UBS’s wealth management business in North and South America.
It has been reported that his detention took place a month ago while he was
visiting Miami from his base in Zurich.
The detention came as part of a US Department of Justice investigation into
investment advice UBS allegedly gave US private banking clients from 2000 to
2007.
UBS is reported as saying no employee had been charged with wrongdoing and
that the detention took place under a ‘material witness warrant’. There was no
confirmation that the employee was Liechti.
UBS yesterday reported a first quarter loss of £5.5bn and redundancies of
5,500 across its operations.
