DOJ: More time needed in UBS settlement

MIAMI, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- More time is needed to iron out an agreement between the United States and Swiss banker UBS AG over access to accounts of suspected tax cheats, officials say.

In a conference call Friday with U.S. District Judge Alan Gold in Miami, U.S. Justice Department attorney Stuart Gibson said negotiations between the Internal Revenue Service and UBS over secretive Swiss banking laws are still ongoing five weeks after they began, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The IRS is seeking information on thousands of U.S. UBS clients suspected of using the offshore accounts to hide taxable assets. The long delays in ironing out an agreement stem in part from efforts by the IRS to extend any arrangement to cover other Swiss banks, the newspaper said.

An agreement in principle was reportedly reached between the Justice Department and the Swiss government on July 31 and Gibson had said earlier that further talks were needed only to finalize the deal.

"We will continue to strive for a solution which is in the interests of both countries," Switzerland's justice department said in a statement released to the Journal.