US urged to abandon UBS tax case

US and Swiss officials are scheduled to meet in Bern tomorrow to discuss a new tax treaty which is being used as leverage in the case against investment bank, UBS.

Hans-Rudolfe Merz, Switzerland's finance minister, and Tim Geithner, US treasury secretary, met at the weekend with Merz arguing an aggressive investigation into UBS accounts could make it difficult to secure approval for a tax treaty, according to ft.com

Commenting on the talks, US officials said: 'The secretary listened to the Swiss concerns regarding the UBS case and indicated that he understoodthe importance of appropriately resolving the matter.'

In February, UBS agreed to a $780m settlement with the Internal Revenue Service to drop a case that a number of its clients used loopholes in US legislation to hide funds offshore.

The IRS is also seeking bank account information on approximately 52,000 Amercian UBS clients, a move being disputed by Switzerland.

Further Reading:

Guilty plea for yachting CEO in UBS tax case
UBS client faces jail over tax evasion
UBS bankers warned over tax investigation fears