(Switzerland) Bern reveals 'solution' to settle US tax dispute
Last edited Fri Jul 5, 2013, 06:28 AM - Edit history (1)
Bern reveals 'solution' to settle US tax dispute
The federal government revealed plans in Bern on Wednesday to settle a bitter dispute with Washington after lawmakers rejected a deal that would have halted US legal action against Swiss banks suspected of stashing cash for American tax dodgers.
Rather than a blanket accord, Swiss banks will now have to apply on a case-by-case basis for government permission to cooperate with US investigators, Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said.
The moves comes two weeks after Swiss parliament shot down the controversial "Lex USA" accord, which would have temporarily lifted Switzerland's long-sacrosanct banking secrecy and allowed banks to settle with US authorities and draw a line under past wrongdoing.
Parliamentary backing was needed for a one-year blanket waiver of secrecy rules for American clients.
Currently, US investigators have to make formal requests for legal assistance concerning specific tax-dodgers, a procedure Washington sees as cumbersome.
http://www.thelocal.ch/20130703/bern-reveals-solution-for-us-tax-evasion-dispute
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