Written by Biloxi
This certainly a major bombshell in the banking industry globally as well as in the U.S. This latest bombshell is being dropped by a Swiss whistleblower. Rudolf Elmer, a former chief financial officer in the Cayman Islands and employee of Julius Bär, will hand over offshore banking accounts on a CD of "2,000 'high net worth individuals' and corporations – detailing massive potential tax evasion" to Wikileaks in London before he heads to trial in Switzerland. Mr. Elmer was charged with breaking Swiss bank secrecy laws, forging documents and sending threatening messages to two Julius Bär officials. Mr. Elmer sees the exposure of bad practices by banks as matter of public concern. From the Guardian:
He is also – at a time when the activities of banks are a matter of public concern – one of a small band of employees and executives seeking to blow the whistle on what they see as unprofessional, immoral and even potentially criminal activity by powerful international financial institutions.
Along with the City of London and Wall Street, Switzerland is a fortress of banking and financial services, but famously secretive and expert in the concealment of wealth from all over the world for tax evasion and other extra-legal purposes.
Elmer says he is releasing the information "in order to educate society". The list includes "high net worth individuals", multinational conglomerates and financial institutions – hedge funds". They are said to be "using secrecy as a screen to hide behind in order to avoid paying tax". They come from the US, Britain, Germany, Austria and Asia – "from all over".
In addition, those that are involved according to Mr. Elmer include "approximately 40 politicians". However, Mr. Elmer is no stranger to Wikileaks as Rudolf Elmer collection is featured on Wikileaks.
As Mr. Elmer mentioned that there are small band of employees and executives are seeking to blow the whistle on potential criminal activity by banks, international tax evasion scandal hasn't made enough news in the U.S. In a 2008 article in Der Spiegel, a German newspaper, Mr. Elmer along with another whistleblower, Heinrich Kieber , exposed tax evaders. Mr. Kieber stole confidential information on alleged rich German tax evaders from the Liechtenstein bank LGT Trust Ltd. and sold it to buyers around the world. Mr. Kieber, a Liechtenstein's informant, had been paid almost 5 million euros of the confidential information on the tax evaders and was given a new identity by German intelligence. Read more on Heinrich Kieber's story in Der Spiegel. Click here.
I look for the financial institutions to scramble, water down, and counterattack this latest bombshell and protect their reputation as they brace themselves on the confidence on Wall Street stocks. The problem is not just the corruption of individuals in the banks but the corruption of the entire banking system. As Rudolf Elmer outcries, "What I am objecting to is not one particular bank, but a system of structures."
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