BSI to pay US$211m penalty

Swiss bank BSI will pay a US$211 million penalty for its role in aiding US tax cheats. The bank is the first financial institution to sign up for a Justice Department program to combat offshore tax evasion.

UBS paid US$780 million as part of a 2009 agreement, and Credit Suisse was hit with a US$2.6 billion penalty as part of a 2014 plea deal.

The US Justice Department said on Monday that BSI SA was "the first Swiss bank to successfully navigate a self-reporting program for hidden American accounts."

The Justice Department launched its Swiss Bank Program in August 2013.

The Justice Department said: "BSI has managed about 3500 U.S. accounts. Those accounts contained as much as nearly US$2.8 billion in assets under management after August 2008."

BSI is located in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. Last year Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali SpA agreed to sell the bank to Brazilian lender BTG Pactual for 1.5 billion Swiss francs.