Swiss halt deal with U.S. that IDs Americans with secret UBS bank accounts
David S. Hilzenrath
Washington Post
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Americans who hid money from the Internal Revenue Service in secret Swiss bank accounts may escape exposure, at least for now.
An agreement between the U.S. and Swiss governments that was supposed to blow the cover on 4,450 accounts at Switzerland’s largest bank is in danger of collapse.
The Swiss government said Wednesday that it has suspended the disclosure of information to the United States under the agreement and may seek to renegotiate the deal.
The announcement came days after a Swiss court ruled that it would be illegal for Switzerland to comply with the August accord. The court essentially declared that long-standing secrecy protections trumped the agreement. The decision came in a test case involving a UBS account holder who was fighting to stay in the shadows.
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Swiss halt deal with U.S. that IDs Americans with secret UBS bank accounts - washingtonpost.com
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