14 November 2009 - 11H24
UBS set for 'very small' disclosure in US tax case
![A logo of Swiss Bank UBS is reflected in a glass window in Zurich in October 1. The bank might have to disclose only a "very small" number of US account holders compared to those envisaged in a settlement for a tax evasion case, the US ambassador to Switzerland has said.](http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/aef_ct_wire_image_lightbox/images/afp/photo_1258194049615-1-0.jpg "A logo of Swiss Bank UBS is reflected in a glass window in Zurich in October 1. The bank might have to disclose only a "very small" number of US account holders compared to those envisaged in a settlement for a tax evasion case, the US ambassador to Switzerland has said.")
A logo of Swiss Bank UBS is reflected in a glass window in Zurich in October 1. The bank might have to disclose only a "very small" number of US account holders compared to those envisaged in a settlement for a tax evasion case, the US ambassador to Switzerland has said.
![Sheets of one hundred dollar bills wait to be cut into singles at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, DC. Swiss bank UBS might have to disclose only a "very small" number of US account holders compared to those envisaged in a settlement for a tax evasion case, the US ambassador to Switzerland has said.](http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/aef_ct_wire_image_lightbox/images/afp/photo_1258194185953-1-0.jpg "Sheets of one hundred dollar bills wait to be cut into singles at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, DC. Swiss bank UBS might have to disclose only a "very small" number of US account holders compared to those envisaged in a settlement for a tax evasion case, the US ambassador to Switzerland has said.")
Sheets of one hundred dollar bills wait to be cut into singles at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, DC. Swiss bank UBS might have to disclose only a "very small" number of US account holders compared to those envisaged in a settlement for a tax evasion case, the US ambassador to Switzerland has said.
AFP - Swiss bank UBS might have to disclose only a "very small" number of US account holders compared to those envisaged in a settlement for a tax evasion case, the US ambassador to Switzerland has said.
Ambassador Donald Beyer said late Friday that a parallel US amnesty scheme had prompted about 9,000 US citizens to voluntarily disclose secret Swiss bank accounts, about twice as many as the number requested from UBS.
"In the case of UBS, we actually got a good compromise, where UBS agreed to share the names of up to 4,450 American citizens who have bank accounts here, but only after an amnesty programme in the United States," Beyer said on World Radio Switzerland.
"That amnesty programme by the way has already turned up more than 9,000 Americans who have come forward voluntarily to talk about their Swiss bank accounts."
"So I guess our hope once we see the numbers is that the actual number of bank records that will be shared will be very very small," added Beyer.
In August, UBS agreed to reveal the identities of some 4,450 American clients in the landmark out-of-court settlement of a tax-evasion case in the United States that challenged Switzerland's sacrosanct banking secrecy.
Beyer said the case and spat over "abuse" of secrecy had been "an irritant" in otherwise close US-Swiss relations.
"I think that this really is spilt milk, and that we have a chance to move forward. I don't see this ever becoming an issue again and that it will fade with time," he added.
In the February 19 civil complaint, US authorities had accused the Swiss bank of "systematically and deliberately" violating American laws by promoting offshore accounts to American citizens.
They had initially demanded that UBS turn over the names of as many as 52,000 American account holders.
That civil case followed another settlement of a US criminal complaint earlier this year in which UBS admitted to tax fraud.
The bank paid 780 million dollars and identified some 300 US clients to settle the criminal case.
The US government has estimated the amount of hidden assets at more than 18 billion dollars.
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