Senate Committee Releases Report On How Credit Suisse Helped US Customers Avoid Taxes

This article describes the system that Switzerland's second largest bank used to help 22,000 US clients set up accounts worth $10-12 billion that were not disclosed to US taxing authorities.  The report is also critical of the US Department Of Justice for weak enforcement of US laws that could have revealed the names of US account holders.  The total amount of tax dollars lost to the government through the use of tax havens would be enough to close the annual US budget deficit of around $450-500 billion.  The report indicates that tens of trillions are hidden in tax havens by wealthy individuals and firms from a variety of countries.  Efforts to close down these tax havens have been watered down since this information became public.  There is a link to the Senate Report for those who are interested in the details uncovered by the Senate investigation.