BUSINESS BRIEFS
U.S. fines Swiss bank, gains access to records
Advertiser Staff and News Services
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WASHINGTON — Banking giant UBS has agreed to pay $780 million and turn over once-secret Swiss banking records to settle allegations it conspired to defraud the U.S. government of taxes owed by thousands of American clients.
As part of the deal struck in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., UBS has made the unprecedented step of agreeing to immediately turn over to the U.S. government account information for U.S. customers of the bank's cross-border business.
UBS will pay $780 million in fines, penalties, interest and restitution for conspiring to hide the assets of U.S. clients from the U.S. government.
"We accept full responsibility for these improper activities," Peter Kurer, chairman of Swiss-based UBS AG, said in a statement.
He added that the bank was determined to abide by the terms of the deal with U.S. criminal and securities officials.
FED DOWNGRADES 2009 PROJECTIONS
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve yesterday sharply downgraded its projections for the country's economic performance this year, predicting the economy will shrink and unemployment will rise.Under the new projections, the jobless rate will rise to between 8.5 and 8.8 percent this year. The old forecasts, issued in mid-November, predicted the jobless rate would rise to between 7.1 and 7.6 percent.
Many private economists say the jobless rate — currently at 7.6 percent, the highest in more than 16 years — will hit at least 9 percent by early next year even with the $787 billion stimulus package signed into law Tuesday by President Obama.
INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT HITS RECORD LOW
WASHINGTON — Industrial production slowed in January due partly to auto shutdowns, and housing construction tumbled to a record low, weaker-than-expected performances that show the country caught in a worsening economic tailspin.The Federal Reserve said yesterday production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities fell 1.8 percent last month.
Many economists expected a 1.5 percent decline. It marked the third straight month where production was cut back.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported home construction plummeted 16.8 percent in January from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units, a record low.
STANFORD'S BANK CLIENTS DENIED
ST. JOHN'S, Antigua — Panicky depositors were turned away from Stanford International Bank and some of its Latin American affiliates yesterday, unable to withdraw money after U.S. regulators accused Texas financier R. Allen Stanford of perpetrating an $8 billion fraud against his companies' investors.Some customers arrived in Antigua by private jet and were driven up the lushly landscaped driveway of the bank's headquarters, only to be told that all assets have been frozen pending an investigation by Antiguan banking regulators.
Banking regulators and politicians around the region are scrambling to contain the damage after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges against the billionaire on Tuesday.
