Switzerland backs UBS on client secrecy

BERN, Switzerland, July 8 (UPI) -- The Swiss government said Wednesday it would step in to prevent its largest bank from turning over client names to U.S. tax authorities.

The case came to light in February, when the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against UBS for helping U.S. taxpayers conceal assets from the Internal Revenue Service.

The bank paid a fine of $780 million and relinquished the names of about 250 U.S. clients.

In March, the government agreed to comply with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's tax standards, which call for its tax authorities to cooperate with other nations on tax evasion cases, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

However, the government has said it had "no intention of relinquishing bank secrecy." Neither does the Swiss government recognize tax evasion as a crime, the newspaper said.

The bank, meanwhile, has refused U.S. requests to hand over 52,000 additional client names.

On Wednesday, the government backed up the bank's position.

"Switzerland makes it perfectly clear that Swiss law prohibits UBS. from complying with a possible order by the court in Miami to hand over the client information," the Swiss Department of Justice and Police said on a Web site.