Thomas v. UBS AG

Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing plaintiffs’ action seeking recovery of penalties, interest and costs imposed by IRS due to plaintiffs’ failure to report existence of foreign bank accounts in defendant’s bank, even though plaintiffs asserted that defendant induced them to maintain their accounts and failed to inform them of their obligation to report said accounts to IRS. There is no common law duty to prevent another person from violating law, and plaintiff failed to allege that defendant gave them bad tax advice. Ct. also rejected plaintiffs’ claim that they were third-party beneficiaries of reporting agreement defendant had with IRS, such that had defendant performed on its obligation to report said accounts to IRS, plaintiffs would have known of their obligation to pay taxes on earnings generated by said accounts.