My former colleagues at swissinfo.ch the other day published an interview with Brad Birkenfeld, the whistleblower at Swiss bank UBS.
Birkenfeld is serving a sentence in the United States for his part in helping wealthy clients evade US taxes. He's also responsible for exposing business practices that cost UBS dearly and as many would argue, increased momentum on the crackdown against foreign financial institutions helping clients evade taxes.
Birkenfeld isn't happy. "It’s an injustice. I’m handling it as best as could be expected, considering that I’m the most famous whistleblower in the United States who’s uncovered the biggest tax fraud in the history of the country," he told swissinfo.ch in an exclusive interview.
So far he's been the only UBS employee punished for the bank's activities although Swiss-based advisors at UBS and other banks have recently been warned against foreign travel.
Perhaps it's too late for Birkenfeld, serving a 40-month-sentence, but the New York Time's DealBook reports hedge funds are exploring a way to profit off of whistleblowing.
The Birkenfeld interview is here. The DealBook blog entry is here.
Yes, Birkenfeld's disclosures of the illegal UBS activities did cost UBS dearly. The larger questions are why were some of the most senior people in the bank engaged in this admittedly illegal activity in the first place and why are the Swiss so reluctant to punish these criminals?
Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. You can either learn from this experience or re-live this same sorry symphony at some later date. The choice is yours.