[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 29 (Thursday, February 12, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2252-S2253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NOTICES OF HEARINGS


            Committee on small business and entrepreneurship

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I would like to inform Members that the 
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will meet in the 
Reception room, immediately off the Floor to conduct a vote on the 
Committee's budget and rules for the 111th Congress. The Committee will 
meet immediately after the first roll call vote occurring on Thursday, 
February 12, 2009.


                PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I would like to announce for the 
information of the Senate and the public that the Permanent 
Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Homeland

[[Page S2253]]

Security and Governmental Affairs will hold a hearing entitled, ``Tax 
Haven Banks and U.S. Tax Compliance--Obtaining the Names of U.S. 
Clients with Swiss Accounts.'' This hearing will continue the 
Subcommittee's examination of financial institutions which are located 
in offshore tax havens and which use practices that facilitate tax 
evasion and other misconduct by U.S. clients. One of the banks featured 
in a July 2008 hearing on this topic is UBS, a major financial 
institution headquartered in Switzerland. The hearing will examine 
issues related to a John Doe summons served by the IRS on UBS seeking 
the names of U.S. clients with UBS Swiss accounts that have not been 
disclosed to the IRS. In July, UBS representatives estimated that about 
19,000 U.S. clients had about $18 billion in assets in such Swiss 
accounts. UBS stated at the July 2008 hearing that it would cooperate 
with the IRS summons, but to date virtually none of the requested 
information has been provided to either the IRS or the U.S. Department 
of Justice which is also examining the matter. The hearing will examine 
the status of the information exchange, the role of U.S.-Swiss tax and 
legal assistance treaties, and the effect of Swiss secrecy laws on the 
information requests. A witness list will be available Friday, February 
20, 2009.
  The Subcommittee hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 
at 10:00 a.m., in room 342 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. For 
further information, please contact Elise Bean of the Permanent 
Subcommittee on Investigations at 202-224-9505.

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