[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3825]
[From the U.S. 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 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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