Leading Canadian bank commits to complying with IRS Caribbean request

TORONTO, Canada, CMC - A leading Canadian bank here says it is committed to complying with the United States Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) request for information about US taxpayers who may hold offshore accounts at a Caribbean bank. Last month, the IRS filed a “John Doe” summons requesting information on an unknown number of unnamed people against US taxpayers with offshore accounts at the Barbados-based FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB), who it suspects of having used accounts with the bank as parts of efforts to illegally evade US tax. FCIB has branches in 18 Caribbean countries. The Toronto-headquartered Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) has a majority stake in FCIB.