Swiss court stops transfer of bank client data to US
By DPA, IANSFriday, January 22, 2010
GENEVA - A Swiss court issued a ruling Friday halting the transfer of UBS AG client data to the United States, putting in doubt a landmark agreement reached over the summer between the US and Swiss governments.
The Swiss Federal Administrative Court said failure to fill out a tax form for the US authorities was not “tax fraud” and therefore under Swiss laws the client’s information should not be disclosed.
The case was brought by a US client of the Swiss bank and could affect some two dozen others. The United States wants information on clients it suspects evaded taxes with the help of UBS employees.
In Washington, the Internal Revenue Service said it had not yet reviewed the court’s decision, but had “every expectation that the Swiss government will continue to honour the terms of the agreement.”
This is the second ruling by the court calling into question Bern’s plans to cooperate with the US by relaxing banking secrecy through the transfer of confidential data.
The prior ruling said the government should not have transferred data last February on some 250 clients to the US.
In August, Switzerland’s federal government reached a deal with the US that at the time was expected to see the Swiss transfer some 4,500 names and data of clients to Washington.
UBS admitted wrongdoing by its employees who had helped clients evade taxes. The Swiss government subsequently entered negotiations with the US, in order to reach a deal on the transfer of data given the previously strict banking secrecy laws.
