TIMELINE-UBS initials deal in U.S. tax case

Aug 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. government and Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N) have initialled agreements to settle their tax evasion dispute, a U.S. government attorney said on Wednesday, ending weeks of tough negotiations.

Following is a timeline of recent events at UBS:

April 1, 2008 -- Doubles its writedowns as a result of the credit crisis, dumps its chairman, Marcel Ospel, and seeks more emergency capital. It proposes its lawyer, Peter Kurer, as Ospel's successor.

May 6 -- Says it will axe 5,500 jobs and sell billions of dollars of ailing assets to weather the subprime crisis.

June 19 -- A former UBS banker who once smuggled a client's diamonds into the U.S. in a toothpaste tube pleads guilty to helping a billionaire hide $200 million from U.S. tax authorities, part of a broader tax evasion probe of UBS.

Oct. 16 -- Announces it is to get 6 billion Swiss francs ($5.55 billion) from the Swiss government for a 9.3 percent stake and is to unload $60 billion of toxic assets into a new central bank fund.

Nov. 12 -- Raoul Weil, head of UBS AG's wealth management business, is charged with conspiring to help thousands of wealthy Americans hide $20 billion of assets from U.S. tax authorities in Swiss bank accounts.

Feb. 10, 2009 -- Posts a 2008 loss of 19.7 billion francs, the biggest ever loss for a Swiss company. Cuts 2,000 more jobs.

Feb. 18 - Agrees to pay $780 million and identify certain U.S. clients to settle criminal fraud charges that it assisted rich Americans to evade taxes.

Feb. 19 - U.S. tax authorities say they are still pursuing a civil lawsuit seeking to access details on 52,000 UBS clients.

Feb. 20 -- Warns that it could go out of business if it complies with an order to reveal the names of suspected U.S. tax dodgers and would require it to violate Swiss law in a manner that would expose it to penalties.

Feb. 26 - Appoints Oswald Gruebel, former head of rival Credit Suisse, as chief executive, replacing Michael Rohner.

March 4 - Chairman Peter Kurer steps down, replaced by Kaspar Villiger, a former Swiss finance minister.

March 13 - Switzerland agrees to make concessions on bank secrecy amid a global crackdown on tax evasion.

April 2 -- U.S. authorities arrest and charge an accountant in Florida in the first of what they say could be a series of tax evasion prosecutions of American clients of UBS.