The FT has reported that:

One of the most senior private bankers at UBS, the world's leading wealth manager, has been detained by authorities in the US investigating whether the Swiss bank helped its American clients evade tax.

Martin Liechti, the Zurich-based head of North and South America for UBS's international wealth management business, was held in connection with a US justice department investigation into investment advice that UBS gave its American private banking clients between 2000 and 2007.

The Swiss lender confirmed on Tuesday that it was also being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over whether UBS client advisers "engaged in activities in relation to their US-domiciled clients that triggered an obligation for UBS Switzerland to register with the SEC as a broker-dealer and/or investment adviser".

The bank said it was co-operating with the investigations.

Bankers and accountants alike. Suppliers of corruption services.