Vatican paper praises Swiss-US deal on secret bank accounts as step toward ‘ethical finance’

September 23rd, 2009 Vatican bank has new chairmanVATICAN CITY — The Vatican has named an Italian economist as the chairman of its bank. The Vatican said Wednesday that Ettore Gotti Tedeschi replaces Angelo Caloia at the helm of the bank, formally known as the Institute for the Works of Religion.

September 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and Switzerland will soon start negotiations to enlarge the scope of their bilateral double taxation treaty to allow sharing of details of bank accounts of people accused of tax evasion, visiting Swiss Vice-President and Minister of Economic Affairs Doris Leuthard said Thursday. We are open to renegotiation of the treaty to include tax evasion, which is a crime here.

September 1st, 2009 GENEVA - The US tax agency Monday filed with Swiss authorities for administrative assistance on information related to 4,500 bank accounts, following a deal reached between the two governments earlier this month. The out-of-court settlement required that the country's largest bank UBS AG hand over to US authorities information on accounts that are believed to belong to clients who hid their assets from the Internal Revenue Service to avoid paying taxes.

August 30th, 2009 Report: French get list of tax suspects from SwissGENEVA — France has received a list of 3,000 French taxpayers with bank accounts in Switzerland as part of a double taxation agreement signed between the two countries last week, according to a report in a French newspaper Sunday. French Budget Minister Eric Woerth was quoted in the weekly Journal du Dimanche as saying the accounts contained some euro3 billion ($4.3 billion), "some of which is very likely linked to tax evasion." Woerth called on the account holders to come forward and bring their tax affairs in order by the end of the year.

August 19th, 2009 US to detail accord with Swiss over UBS accountsGENEVA — The United States will release details Wednesday on its agreement with Switzerland to end their tax evasion dispute involving UBS AG, a U.S. treasury spokeswoman said.

August 14th, 2009 Calif. man to plead guilty in bank secrets caseLOS ANGELES — A Malibu man accused of trying to avoid paying taxes has agreed to plead guilty to failing to report more than $1 million he transferred to a Swiss bank account, according to court documents filed Friday. John McCarthy will plead guilty to one count of failing to file a Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts report.

August 12th, 2009 US, Swiss cement deal on secret UBS bank accountsMIAMI — The U.S. government and Swiss banking giant UBS AG have reached an agreement in a case seeking names of some 52,000 suspected American tax evaders with billions in secret Swiss accounts, but details may remain under wraps until next week, officials said.

August 7th, 2009 UBS tax case settlement due before Fla. judgeMIAMI — A federal judge in Miami is due to learn if a settlement has been finalized in the high-stakes attempt by the U.S.

July 31st, 2009 Settlement near in UBS tax evasion caseMIAMI — A federal judge is Florida is canceling a planned trial for Swiss bank UBS after the Swiss and U.S. governments struck a deal over allegations that Americans hid money overseas.

July 10th, 2009 Obama at Vatican to meet with Pope Benedict XVIVATICAN CITY — President Barack Obama has arrived at the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. Obama's motorcade arrived at the Holy See on Friday, greeted by Swiss Guards in their colorful uniforms.

May 6th, 2009 Vatican Swiss Guards consider opening to womenVATICAN CITY — The Vatican's Swiss Guards swore in 32 new recruits Wednesday amid suggestions from their new commander that women might one day join their ranks. Col. Daniel Anrig said Tuesday he was open to the idea of women serving in the elite, 500-year-old papal security force, reversing the long-held position of his predecessors.

May 1st, 2009 UBS asks to keep account holders a secretMIAMI — Swiss banking giant UBS AG said turning over to the IRS the names of thousands of wealthy Americans who might be withholding billions in income from U.S. taxes would violate Swiss law and undermine international relations, according to a court brief filed Thursday.

March 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India has no action plan yet on how to get information on money allegedly stashed away by its nationals in secret bank accounts abroad, but its position is that there must be transparency in such disclosures, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said Monday. Briefing reporters on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to London for the G20 summit on April 2, the foreign secretary said demands were being made by some countries, and in international fora, for transparent system of disclosures by banking authorities.

March 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani on Sunday attacked on the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, claiming that he has not done enough to address the issue of illicit money hoarded in Swiss Bank accounts.

March 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) Friday joined the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in demanding that the government should ask the Swiss authorities to divulge the names of Indians who have stashed away ill-gotten money in secret bank accounts there. JD-U president Sharad Yadav told reporters here: 'India tops the list of countries whose citizens have deposited monies in Swiss banks and we must ask the government there to reveal the names.' CPI-M leader Prakash Karat made the demand last week during the release of his party manifesto.