Monday, August 17, 2009

UBS to name 5,000 accounts under U.S. deal: paper

UBS to name 5,000 accounts under U.S. deal: paper
Jonathan LynnReutersMonday, August 17, 2009
The deal initialed last week between the United States and Switzerland over UBS (UBSN.VX) will involve the disclosure of around 5,000 holders of secret Swiss accounts, weekly newspaper NZZ am Sonntag said on Sunday.
Another Swiss weekly, Sonntag, said around 4,500 names would be handed over.
The landmark deal, ending a dispute in which the U.S. tax authorities had sued UBS to disclose 52,000 U.S. clients suspected of tax evasion, dispels a big cloud hanging over the world’s second biggest wealth manager.
It also formally leaves Switzerland’s cherished banking secrecy intact, although many Swiss private bankers say it has been badly damaged.
NZZ am Sonntag, citing its own researches and reports in the U.S. press, said the deal would be based on the existing U.S.-Swiss double taxation agreement of 1996, and therefore not require any changes to Swiss law.