UBS and U.S. Report a Deal on Names in Tax Inquiry

By LYNNLEY BROWNING
NYT

The Swiss banking giant UBS and the Justice Department reached an accord on Wednesday that would force the bank to disclose the names of certain American clients suspected of tax evasion.

“The parties have initialed agreements,” Stuart Gibson, a Justice Department lawyer who is trying the case, said in a conference call on Wednesday with Judge Alan S. Gold of Federal District Court in Miami.

While it is unclear how many names will be released, the agreement could result in scores of wealthy Americans with offshore accounts having their identities revealed to the Internal Revenue Service. Many could face charges of tax evasion as well as big fines and back taxes.

H. David Rosenbloom, a lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale in Washington and a former Treasury official, said Wednesday that he thought UBS would turn over about 5,000 names, probably those with the largest accounts who had been visited in the United States by Swiss-based bankers.

(More here.)