The Swiss government promised Wednesday to prevent secret offshore bank account records from reaching IRS hands even if bank UBS were to allow it.
In court papers at a Federal court in Miami, Switzerland stated that it “will use its legal authority to ensure that the bank cannot be pressured to transmit the information illegally, including if necessary by issuing an order taking effective control of the data at UBS that is the subject of the summons.”
“It is hoped that it will be unnecessary for the Government of Switzerland to take the extraordinary action of issuing an order to seize the information at issue, but such an action should be expected if the IRS continues to pressure UBS to violate Swiss law.”
This is not the first time the Swiss have come under pressure from the US to change their sovereign law. US instigated “anti-money laundering” measures came into force in 2004 that effectively signalled the end of the “numbered bank account“.
Some American UBS clients have already pleaded guilty to tax crimes voluntarily, but the US goverment is hoping to catch up to 52,000 more.
