UBS says working hard to solve US tax evasion case
BASEL, Switzerland, Oct 2 (Reuters) - UBS AG (UBSN.VX) is working on settling a U.S. investigation into allegations it helped wealthy American clients avoid taxes by hiding assets in Switzerland, its chairman said on Thursday.
"We are fully committed to solving this case and we are working very hard on it," Peter Kurer told an extraordinary shareholders meeting in Basel.
In May, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission said they were investigating UBS's conduct in relation to offshore services provided by UBS advisers to U.S. clients from 2000 to 2007.
UBS has already said it would stop offering offshore Swiss bank accounts to U.S. citizens, and is expected to seek a settlement in the tax evasion case with U.S. authorities.
Kurer said UBS had established a project team to exit the business "in the fastest and most efficient way within the confines of the law".
"We also publicly acknowledged that some facts of this case involved behaviour by employees of ours which we do not and will not tolerate. Our own compliance rules have been broken and we very much regret this," he said.
The case could ultimately force UBS to hand over names of U.S. clients, striking at the heart of Switzerland's prized banking secrecy rules. The Swiss government has warned UBS not to breach Swiss law by revealing client details.
But the New York Times reported on Wednesday that Swiss authorities are expected to hand over data on some U.S. clients of UBS to the U.S. Justice Department within months.
Swiss law prohibits disclosure of client data or names unless the country's authorities believe the client has committed a serious crime such as money laundering or tax fraud. Switzerland does not consider tax evasion to be a crime.
Any details would have to be given by UBS to the Swiss government, which would then assess whether a serious crime has been committed before deciding whether to pass them on to U.S. authorities.
In August, UBS said it would cost the bank $900 million to settle a separate U.S. case in which it was accused of steering clients towards auction-rate securities -- debt which became impossible to sell after the market froze. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Paul Bolding)
