Matt Collins
07-31-2009, 10:54 PM
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/08/01/us_says_it_has_a_deal_with_ubs_on_tax_case/
Switzerland and the United States reached an agreement in principle yesterday to settle out of court a case that sought to force Swiss banking giant UBS to turn over the names of wealthy American clients suspected of tax evasion, a lawyer for the government said.
UBS and the Swiss government have been battling efforts to force the bank to disclose the names of 52,000 American clients of UBS suspected of tax evasion. The efforts threatened to peel back layers of Swiss banking secrecy, the backbone of the world’s private banking industry, and have rattled UBS, the world’s largest private bank.
The push for the disclosure of client names had also escalated into a diplomatic incident between Switzerland and the United States, as UBS had argued that complying with the American request would cause it to violate Swiss laws.
Switzerland and the United States reached an agreement in principle yesterday to settle out of court a case that sought to force Swiss banking giant UBS to turn over the names of wealthy American clients suspected of tax evasion, a lawyer for the government said.
UBS and the Swiss government have been battling efforts to force the bank to disclose the names of 52,000 American clients of UBS suspected of tax evasion. The efforts threatened to peel back layers of Swiss banking secrecy, the backbone of the world’s private banking industry, and have rattled UBS, the world’s largest private bank.
The push for the disclosure of client names had also escalated into a diplomatic incident between Switzerland and the United States, as UBS had argued that complying with the American request would cause it to violate Swiss laws.