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Swiss FinMin says UBS was forced to settle with U.S
BERNE |
BERNE (Reuters) - Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz said on Thursday UBS had no choice but settle a tax fraud case with the United States to avoid being brought on its knees and threaten the entire Swiss economy.
Merz said UBS was faced with a February 18 deadline set by the Department of Justice to reach agreement or face criminal charges.
"It became evident that if the American authorities would bring UBS to an indictment (that) .... would have also been falling on our economy," Merz said during a meeting with the foreign press.
The minister said Washington did not want to wait for a lengthy appeal process by some of UBS clients who were fighting against bank data transfer to the United States. The appeal process would have taken several months.
Merz will hold a second press conference, specifically on the UBS settlement, at 1330 GMT (8:30 a.m. EST).
(Reporting by Jonathan Lynn, Writing by Lisa Jucca)
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