UBS rejects reports top bosses aware of tax fraud

ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N) denied on Sunday its chairman or chief executive were aware of tax fraud by its U.S. offshore business, which forced the Swiss bank to pay a fine to settle charges it helped rich Americans dodge tax.

A UBS spokesman rejected reports in Swiss newspapers on Sunday that suggested that Chairman Peter Kurer and CEO Marcel Rohner had been aware of illegal offshore structures, saying neither U.S. nor Swiss authorities were accusing them of this.

"The assertion that Mr Kurer or Mr Rohner knew about tax fraud via offshore structures is false," he said in a statement, noting that the Swiss financial regulator had concluded that top UBS management had no knowledge of fraudulent business.

UBS agreed on Wednesday to pay a $780 million fine and hand over some client names to settle U.S. criminal charges.

But U.S. authorities said on Thursday they were still pursuing a civil case seeking access to 52,000 more names of U.S. citizens it says are hiding assets in secret Swiss bank accounts.

The UBS spokesman added that since the agreement with the U.S. authorities no new documents or facts had come to light.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)