Many have dismissed it as a medium of exchange fit only for anonymity-seeking drug dealers and tax evaders.
For those that have not actively sought out tax evaders in the past, being sure that they have no troublesome accounts can be "immensely tricky", says Michel Dérobert of the Swiss Private Bankers Associationn.Some may have American clients without knowing it.
Tax evaders should rightly worry that FATCA will reveal their illicit activities.The work by the G20 and OECD on the common reporting standard for tax evasion draws extensively on FATCA's intergovernmental approach.
The prime minister, as Mr Yosano put it, was in effect the chief tax collector in the land, yet Mr Hatoyama was "the king of the Heisei era tax evaders".
WHEN Mark Morris, a Zurich-based tax consultant with a conscience, requested a meeting with the European Commission to explain the many devious ways in which tax evaders were using shell companies and other vehicles, a bored official offered him 20 minutes.
Elsewhere in the isthmus, jailing a few corrupt politicians, and then doing the same to big tax evaders, might bring swifter returns.
The effect is to push evaders to the fringes of the system, where they may be more at threat from fraudsters than from the taxman.
The agency's defenders say it took a "pragmatic" approach to the HSBC files, concluding that the best way to maximise revenue was to offer tax evaders a brief window during which they could come clean and pay reduced, civil penalties.
Switzerland has used the information to go after some Swiss tax evaders but not to challenge any international clients.Special report Storm survivors Enduring charms The good, the bad and the Ugland Not a palm tree in sight Automatic response The price isn't right The merry enablers Rise of the midshores Who's the criminal?
The deal also increases pressure on banks to identify the ultimate owners of shell companies and trusts, behind which tax evaders often hide.In this section Battling the darkness Ghostbusters Neither borrowers nor lenders The data revolution One currency, divergent economies The great trailblazer ReprintsThe catalyst for the agreement was America's Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
