UBS to hand over small amount of data - report
CHICAGO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Swiss Bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX) may hand over only a small amount of bank data as part of a U.S. settlement because the Internal Revenue Service has succeeded in cracking down on tax evaders, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
The newspaper quoted U.S. ambassador to Switzerland Donald Beyer who told World Radio Switzerland the program had already turned up more than 9,000 Americans who have come forward to talk about their Swiss bank accounts under a U.S. tax amnesty.
Beyer said the success of the program may mean only a small number of bank records will be shared.
Under the amnesty program that began in September, tax cheats can declare offshore accounts and income, pay reduced fines and receive immunity from criminal prosecution. In mid-October, some 7,500 wealthy Americans had turned over information about hidden overseas assets.
Democratic Senator Carl Levin who chairs the Senate subcommittee on investigations, has estimated the U.S. loses $100 billion annually from international tax evasion.
The government's investigation of UBS is at the heart of the U.S. offshore tax effort. The company earlier this year settled a criminal probe by paying $780 million and admitting it helped U.S. citizens evade taxes.
After months of tortuous negotiations that involved the Swiss government and challenged the country's tradition of banking secrecy, UBS agreed in August to disclose the names of 4,450 American holders of secret accounts at UBS in a settlement that pierced Switzerland's prized banking secrecy. (Reporting by Ben Klayman, editing by Alan Elsner)
