Raoul Weil

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Raoul Weil
Born13 November 1959

Raoul Weil (b. 13 November 1959) is a Swiss banker. Weil is best known as being the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Global Wealth Management & Business Banking at UBS AG. Weil eventually became a member of UBS's Group Executive Board.

During Weil’s tenure at UBS, the Bank became embroiled in the 2008-09 U.S. tax evasion controversy, which led to Weil’s voluntary departure from the Bank after he was indicted by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly offering help to thousands of UBS’s U.S. clients who failed to pay their federal income taxes. Arrested in October 2013 during a trip to Italy, Weil has been extradited to the United States.[1] On December 16, 2013, Weil was released on $10.5 million bail by the federal district court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. [2]

Early Life

Weil was in Switzerland. Weil graduated from the University of Basel with a degree in economics.[3] He also earned a masters in economics with a specialization in national economics and business administration.

Banking Career

Raoul Weil was hired by the Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC), and worked in SBC's private banking division in Basel, Zurich, Monaco, and New York City from 1984 until 1998. He joined UBS as part of its private banking division for Asia and Europe before becoming head of UBS's Wealth Management International unit in 2002.

Weil was relieved of his duties pending the resolution of the ongoing investigation of UBS's US cross-border business by the United States Department of Justice which resulted in his indictment on 12 November 2008.[4] The United States issued an international arrest warrant for Weil in 2008.

U.S. tax evasion controversy

In 2008, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation began probing a multi-million-dollar tax evasion case involving UBS due to disclosures made by Brad Birkenfeld, a former UBS banker in Switzerland, who testified to the US Department of Justice, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and the US Internal Revenue Service.[5] [6] Concurrently, a United States Senate subcommittee accused Swiss banks, including UBS, of helping wealthy Americans evade taxes through offshore accounts, which it estimated cost of the U.S. excess of US$100 billion annually.[7][8][9]

In response, UBS announced that it would cease providing cross-border private banking services to US-domiciled clients through its non-US regulated units as of July 2008.[10] In November 2008, a U.S. federal grand jury indicted Raoul Weil in connection with the ongoing investigation of UBS's US cross-border business.[11] UBS would eventually cut ties to Weil in May 2009 and he would continue to face charges after UBS had settled its criminal case with the U.S. government.[12]

UBS agreed on February 18, 2009 to pay a fine of US$780 million to the U.S. government and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement on charges of conspiring to defraud the United States by impeding the Internal Revenue Service.[13][14][15][16]

On 6 January 2014, according to the National Whistleblowers Center, "Raoul Weil may make a "deal with the US Department of Justice because he has "information that would be extremely embarrassing to wealthy and powerful people" in the United States and elsewhere."[17]

Reuss Private Group

After leaving UBS, Weil was hired as a consultant in 2010 by Reuss Private Group (Pfäffikon, Schwyz, Switzerland), eventually becoming a managing partner.[18] At the beginning of 2013, he succeeded Adriano B. Lucatelli as appointed chief executive officer of Reuss Private Group.[19] On December 2, 2013, Weil was replaced by Felix Brem as CEO of Reuss Private Group.[20]

Other activities

Raoul Weil is a member of the Optimus Foundation, a charitable foundation administered by UBS which helps with disease prevention and education across the world.

Legal issues

On January 13, 2009, in an article about the Bernard Madoff scandal, the Associated Press reported "In an separate case also affecting wealthy investors, former UBS AG wealth management head Raoul Weil was formally declared a fugitive on Tuesday after failing to surrender to U.S. authorities on charges of conspiring to help wealthy Americans hide assets to avoid paying taxes."[21] Weil's attorney Aaron Marcu says his client is not guilty of the charges.[22] Another private banker for UBS, Brad Birkenfeld, was indicted on similar charges in May 2008 and later pleaded guilty.[23]

Extradition to U.S.

On October 19, 2013, Weil was arrested at Bologna, Italy while on a trip from Switzerland.[24][25] After his request for house arrest was turned down by Italian authorities,[26] Weil decided to give up his fight against extradition to the United States.[1] Weil's willingness to return to the U.S. raised the suspicion that he may have been offered a "sweet heart deal" by the U.S. Department of Justice, which treated another UBS conspirator, Martin Liechti, extremely leniently, according to Bradley Birkenfeld's lawyer, Stephen M. Kohn of the National Whistleblower Center.[2]

Birkenfeld worked directly under Weil at UBS and "knows where all the skeletons are buried," according to Kohn.[27] Kohn claims that, "Weil can clearly bargain inside information he has that could be embarrassing to American officials or institutions for leniency."[27]

Charged with tax fraud in his appearance before the federal district court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on 16 December 2013, Weil was released on $10.5 million bail by U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hunt. Weil was allowed to stay with friends in New Jersey until his scheduled arraignment on 7 January 2014.[2] At his 7 January 2014 arraignment, Weil pleaded not-guilty to helping U.S. taxpayers evade taxes on $20 billion in offshore assets.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b Jucca, Lisa and Valentina Accardo (16 December 2013). "Swiss banker in eye of U.S. tax evasion storm to face court". Reuters. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Fagenson, Zachary (16 December 2013). "Florida judge grants $10.5 million bail for ex-UBS banker". Reuters. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  3. ^ Martinuzzi, Elisa (21 October 2013). "Fugitive Ex-UBS Wealth Management Chief Weil Arrested in Italy". Bloomberg.
  4. ^ "UBS suffers offshore blow as US indicts wealth management head". FT. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  5. ^ "AFP: FBI 'to probe Swiss bank UBS' in tax dodging case". Google News. Agence France-Presse. June 22, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  6. ^ "National Whistleblowers Center – Bradley Birkenfeld Fact Sheet". Whistleblowers.org. August 21, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  7. ^ Voreacos, Donmoyer, David, Ryan. "UBS Says It Won't Turn Over More Names in IRS Suit". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 29 October 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Costello, Miles (July 17, 2008). "US Senate claims UBS 'colluded' behind Swiss bank secrecy laws". The Times. London. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
  9. ^ Perez, Evan (July 17, 2008). "Offshore Tax Evasion Costs U.S. $100 billion, Senate Probe of UBS and LGT indicates". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
  10. ^ "Statement on Indictment of UBS Executive". BusinessWire. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
  11. ^ "UBS suffers offshore blow as US indicts wealth management head". Financial Times. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
  12. ^ "UBS Cuts Ties To Suspended Ex-Private Banking Head". The Wall Street Journal. May 1, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  13. ^ "UBS Will Pay $780 million to Settle U.S. Tax Claims, Bloomberg.com website (18 Feb 2009)". Bloomberg. May 30, 2005. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
  14. ^ "UBS Enters into Deferred Prosecution Agreement". US Department of Justice. February 18, 2009.
  15. ^ Browning, Lynnley (February 19, 2009). "A Swiss Bank Is Set to Open Its Secret Files". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  16. ^ "U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 20905 / February 18, 2009". Retrieved on July 11, 2014.
  17. ^ "2014 TNT 4-33 WHISTLEBLOWERS CENTER SAYS FORMER UBS EMPLOYEE MAY MAKE 'SWEETHEART DEAL'. (Section 7623 -- Expenses of Detecting Frauds) (Release Date: JANUARY 06, 2014) (Doc 2014-271)". Tax Analysts. 7 January 2014. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  18. ^ "Italian police arrest 'fugitive' Swiss banker". nternational Service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  19. ^ "Response to the arrest of Raoul Weil" (PDF). Reuss Private Group. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  20. ^ "Felix Brem new CEO of Reuss Private Group" (PDF). Reuss Private Group. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  21. ^ "U.S. Again Tries to Jail Madoff" Associated Press via Yahoo News, January 13, 2009. Retrieved on July 11, 2014.
  22. ^ "Ex-UBS Executive Raoul Weil Named Fugitive by U.S. Judge" Bloomberg News, 14 January 2009
  23. ^ "Former UBS Executive Deemed Fugitive", New York Times (January 13, 2009)
  24. ^ [1]
  25. ^ Elisa Martinuzzi & Elena Logutenkova, "Fugitive Ex-UBS Wealth Management Chief Weil Arrested in Italy," Oct. 21, 2013, Bloomberg News, at [2].
  26. ^ Jucca, Lisa (17 November 2013). "Judge rejects house arrest bid by jailed ex-UBS banker: source". Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  27. ^ a b c "Former UBS banker Raoul Weil pleads not guilty to helping Americans dodge taxes". Telegraph (London). 7 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

External links

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