German Tax Authorities Paid for Bank Client Data, Bilanz Says
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German tax authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia paid 3.5 million euros ($4.4 million) for three sets of data containing information about clients of Coutts, a wealth management unit of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, a wealth management unit of Merrill Lynch and UBS AG, Bilanz reported, citing unidentified German judiciary sources.
Tax authorities got data on almost 1,000 clients of Coutts, more than 1,000 clients of UBS and a "smaller" number of Merrill Lynch clients, the Swiss magazine reported. The authorities are investigating whether a UBS unit Corpboard Ltd. may have been used to help clients evade taxes through foundations and trusts, the magazine also said.