Swiss banks agree US tax evasion deal with Justice Department

Two more Swiss banks have agreed deals with the US Justice Department over tax evasion by Americans.

Banque Pasche will pay $7.22m (£4.7m) and Arvest Privatbank $1.04m in penalties under a deal that means they will not face criminal charges.

Fifteen Swiss banks have already cut deals with the department under a voluntary programme in which they could report suspected tax evasion.

More deals are likely as about 100 banks have signed up to the programme.

The Justice Department said that Banque Pasche, which has operations in Monaco and the Bahamas, helped US taxpayers evade taxes relating to 186 accounts from August 2008 to August 2013.

Since August 2008, Arvest Privatbank has had 52 US-related accounts which the department felt were used to dodge taxes.

The Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said information provided by the two banks would help in future investigations.

"Today's agreements are significant both individually and in conjunction with the previous Swiss bank programme agreements," said Richard Weber, of IRS Criminal Investigation.

"Individually, each bank agreement provides additional information to the IRS to assist us in going after illegally concealed offshore accounts and the financial professionals who helped US taxpayers hide assets abroad," he said.

Neither Swiss bank was immediately available for comment.