The secret banking lives of the super rich and wealthy

The New York Times released an interesting article today on the secret banking lives (and potential tax evasion strategies) of the super rich and wealthy with offshore bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Just to quote:

Switzerland does not consider tax evasion a crime, and using undeclared accounts is legal there.

Woah. I did not know that. Supposedly, Swiss banking practices, especially for UBS, reach as far back as the Middle Ages when I suppose most taxes were exercised on crops rather than nominal wealth and income. That really adds a nice Da Vinci Code, ancient Carolignian fortunes tone to the whole story. One former employee of UBS named Bradley Birkenfeld is actually blowing the whistle on UBS after he became angry "over what he considered the bank’s wink-and-nod standard regarding tax evasion" and for being asked "to sign papers saying that they [bankers such as Birkenfeld], not the bank, would be responsible if they broke non-Swiss tax laws."

I actually worked for UBS last summer at their New York City office where they have their Wealth Management - High Net Worth individuals office. You could always tell when someone was destined for that particular floor. The Gucci bags just gave them away. They also had a massive crystal ball in their well decorated, polished hard-wood lobby. As for the rest of us, the bankers, technicians and operations folk, we were content with our carpets and dry-wall cubicles. The Wealth Management bankers also had the funniest job titles like "Wealth Management - Millionaires".

[Note: I like back-dating posts so that it looks like I'm consistently actively posting...]