Washington, D.C. September 27, 2012 — The National Whistleblowers Center and the No FEAR Coalition announce their support for the immediate passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) for federal employee whistleblowers.  The decision to support the Senate version (S. 743) of the WPEA came after the Senate removed a final poison pill from the bill. 

Today's guests:

Stephen Kohn — Executive director, National Whistleblowers Center

The IRS paid former banker Bradley Birkenfeld $104 million for reporting fraud at his company. But what did the government get for its money? In Birkenfeld's case, his former employer Swiss banking giant UBS agreed to pay $780 million and to turn over information on Americans with secret accounts. The IRS has recovered $5 billion in back taxes and penalties so far. Steve Kohn is Birkenfeld's attorney and he discusses whether whistleblower rewards are worth the money.

Original Article on Federal News Radio

By Marie-Nolle Blessig – September 17, 2012 5:12am

GENEVA - With their long-cherished secrecy practices increasingly under attack, Swiss banks are scrambling for a new way to attract wealthy foreign clients.

"Banking secrecy is no longer there. That's gone. It is over," international wealth management consultant Osmond Plummer told a gathering of Swiss bankers in Geneva last week.

And once the secrecy ends, he stressed, Swiss financial institutions will have to come up with a new magnet if they want to remain attractive for large foreign placements.

"Something has to change in Switzerland," he told the seminar, focused on wealth management and banking secrecy.