[BITList] more andy

[CT's]

hugh

"the swiss stretched bank laws to the limit to pass on the data without a formal violation of the nation's law!" - I didn't realise a law could be stretched to it's limit

appears the swiss are caving in too! 

but how can the us government "persuade" swiss bankers to pay $780 million and try to force ubs to disclose the identities of 52,000 holders of swiss bank accounts? 

surely the pillar of swiss banking is the numbered accounts and secrecy - or are times a changing?

ct


U.S. authorities are trying to force UBS to disclose the identities of as many as 52,000 U.S. holders of secret Swiss accounts suspected of dodging taxes.
In February, UBS agreed to pay $780 million to settle criminal charges it was facing under a separate, but related tax dispute. It agreed to hand over data related to around 250 U.S. clients who had secret Swiss accounts and promised to exit its offshore business to U.S. clients.

The Swiss government stretched bank laws to the limit to pass on the data without a formal violation of the nation's law, but tax lawyers said the case was a serious hit to traditional Swiss bank secrecy. (Additional reporting by Jim Loney, Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Lisa Von Ahn) 
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