The bank did not disclose how many clients it has notified but said in a statement that the US’ Internal Revenue Service had made a request for information and that in turn the Swiss tax authority had ordered it to submit account information to the IRS.
A spokesperson for Credit Suisse said: “The US IRS recently submitted a request for administrative assistance to the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (SFTA) pursuant to the 1996 double tax treaty between Switzerland and the US, seeking information with regard to accounts of domiciliary companies belonging to certain US persons as beneficial owners (the Treaty Request).
“In connection with the IRS Treaty Request, the SFTA has issued an order directing Credit Suisse AG to submit responsive account information to the SFTA.”
Credit Suisse is not the only Swiss bank to find itself in the IRS’ radar in recent years. In 2009 Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS was forced to pay $780m (£485m, €565m) to settle criminal charges against it and the Swiss authorities ordered it to release the names of almost 5,000 clients.
News agency Reuters reported earlier today that Credit Suisse had started informing clients on November 2 via letters signed by two senior private banking executives at the group’s Zurich headquarters. Apparently clients have been informed they have no right to appeal.
