Lessons Learned from the Swiss Julius Baer Case

This paper analyses the impact of a recent decision of the the Swiss Federal Administrative Court [Bundesverwaltungsgericht] denying the disclosure of bank account data to the IRS in light of "group requests" made in application of Article 26 of the U.S.-Swiss Confederation DTT and the new FATCA intergovernmental agreements. The author argues even though the entry in force of the 2009 Protocol (on hold in the U.S. Senate) could change the traditional Swiss distinction between tax fraud and tax evasion for tax treaty purposes, the historic limitation on "fishing expeditions" will still circumscribe the limits on the group requests and the information exchange under FATCA