By Patricia Hurtado and David Voreacos From Bloomberg

Cayman National Units Admit Helping U.S. Citizens Avoid Taxes

March 9, 2016 — 2:52 PM COT Updated on March 9, 2016 — 3:14 PM COT

Two units of Cayman National Corp. pleaded guilty to helping U.S. clients evade taxes as a Justice Department crackdown on tax cheats expands beyond Switzerland.
Switzerland’s three largest banks have resolved criminal tax cases with the U.S., paying a combined $3.9 billion and admitting how they helped Americans dodge taxes. Another 80 Swiss banks avoided prosecution in the past year by paying penalties of $1.37 billion and voluntarily disclosing their wrongdoing as part of a Justice Department program.

Cayman National Securities and Cayman National Trust entered the guilty pleas Wednesday in New York federal court through their lawyer. Each unit agreed to forfeit $1.7 million and each will pay a fine of more than $384,000, prosecutor Sarah Paul said.

Cayman National, the parent, has offered full service banking and investment opportunities since 1984, according to the bank’s website.

On Feb. 5, Julius Baer Group Ltd. agreed to pay $547 million to avoid U.S. prosecution and admitted it helped American clients hide billions of dollars in assets from tax authorities while coaching its bankers on how to avoid detection.

Julius Baer followed larger Swiss rivals UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG in resolving U.S. tax probes. UBS did so by agreeing in 2009 to pay $780 million, while Credit Suisse reached a $2.6 billion deal in 2014.

For more on this story go to: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-09/cayman-national-units-to-admit-helping-u-s-citizens-avoid-taxes

IMAGE: www.caymannational.com