ZURICH--The head of the Swiss bankers' association is
pessimistic about a speedy solution to the tax dispute between
Switzerland and the U.S, he said in an interview published
Sunday.
Patrick Odier told Sonntags Blick that negotiations which have
been running for two years were long and difficult.
"Today no one is sure that a good solution will come," he is
quoted as saying.
He admitted mistakes had been made in the past about untaxed
money held by foreign nationals in Swiss bank accounts, but this
was being corrected.
Earlier this month, Switzerland's oldest bank was ordered to pay
a total of $74 million to the U.S. government in the first-ever
criminal sentence for a foreign bank accused of violating U.S. tax
laws.
Wegelin & Co. fell prey to a broad U.S. crackdown on secret
American bank accounts overseas. Under U.S. law, Americans must
declare foreign bank accounts and pay taxes on income earned from
interest or investments in those accounts.
The U.S. government previously obtained a $780 million
settlement with UBS AG (UBS) in 2009, and tax probes continue of
other Swiss banks including Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) and Julius
Baer (BAER.VX).
Newspaper website: www.blick.ch/sonntagsblick/
Zurich Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +41 43 443 8040;
zurichdjnews@dowjones.com
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