The Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) has existed since 2009 to allow taxpayers to come forward and report offshore accounts they had previously failed to disclose to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Both individuals living abroad and individuals within the United States must report offshore accounts annually and can face penalties and fines if they fail to do so.

American Taxpayers with undisclosed foreign accounts may soon have their account information given  to the United States Government, because Credit Suisse has agreed to pay over 2.6 billion dollars in fines to the U.S. Government, and has also pleaded guilty to various illegal financial activity.  Because of this landmark case, other foreign banks may now enter into plea agreements with the U.S. Government.

Credit Suisse has agreed to pay 2.6 billion to the United States Government: U.S. Taxpayers hidden account information will be disclosed in the future by foreign banks because of this ground breaking agreement. Overseas banks will now fear criminal prosecution themselves and will probably fully cooperate with the U.S. Government.

The Justice Department is believed to be negotiating with Credit Suisse for access to information on the undisclosed offshore accounts that belong to U.S. Taxpayers. If the negotiations move forward as anticipated, this would set a precedent for the procedures of the investigations of banks in the future.

The Cayman Islands are the latest targets of ongoing Department of Justice (DOJ) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigations of American taxpayers with undisclosed offshore bank accounts. The investigations of the past week in the Cayman Islands should serve as a warning to any U.S. Taxpayer with an undisclosed offshore bank account.