U.S. prosecutors are widening their probe of how Swiss banks helped wealthy Americans avoid taxes to look at insurers as well, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. Zurich-based Swiss Life in December returned funds to hundreds of American clients who had invested in insurance products linked to bank accounts at Bank Frey, a Swiss private bank, according to the report. A spokeswoman for Swiss Life said the insurer had not been contacted by U.S. officials. Frey, a private bank, is one of 14 Swiss firms under formal U.S. investigation for its dealings with U.S. clients and untaxed assets. It said late last year it would close because the probe's costs eclipse the bank's financial strength. Insurers in Switzerland have been preparing for months for U.S. officials to investigate products known as insurance wrappers - life insurance policies into which the very wealthy place stocks, private equity holdings and other bankable assets, allowing them to
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