Bank Julius Baer hasn't yet been able to put the tax dispute with the U.S. to rest. But the timing of the provision for the expected penalty was spot on.
Analysts once again waited in vain for the final verdict on Julius Baer's protracted dispute with U.S. authorities. The interim 10-month earnings statement on Tuesday didn't contain the long-awaited agreement either.
Julius Baer and Zuercher Kantonalbank are the two remaining large institutes in the so-called category 1 of the tax dispute. The U.S. Department of Justice opened criminal proceedings against ten banks belonging to that category on allegations of having helped U.S. citizens to stash away untaxed money in Swiss accounts.
Savings: 25 Million Francs
The Zurich-based private bank in July put aside $350 million awaiting a penalty by the U.S. government, a large sum for sure yet still below expectations.
Time is working in favor of Julius Baer as analysts at Neue Helvetische Bank (NHB) reported. The $350 million put aside in July was then booked at a value of 326 million francs. The same amount of U.S. dollars today is worth 351 million francs.
«That way, about 25 million francs were saved so far,» concluded the analysts at NHB.
