Julius Baer expects to pay US$547m to end US tax probe

Geneva

JULIUS Baer Group Ltd, Switzerland's third-largest wealth manager, said that it expects to pay about US$547 million to settle a US investigation into how it helped Americans evade taxes, clearing the way for other Swiss banks to resolve similar criminal probes.

The bank reached an agreement in principle with the US Justice Department, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday, as it earmarked another US$197 million beyond the US$350 million it set aside in June to resolve the probe. The Zurich-based company expects to conclude the agreement of the four-year investigation in the first quarter.