Switzerland's banking laws meant that an asset manager who had helped US authorities identify tax cheats was still caught up on spying charges. He has been cleared of the offences.

A Swiss asset manager who in 2013 give US prosecutors more than 100 files from clients suspected of evading taxes has been cleared of spying-related charges in Switzerland, Reuters reported, citing recently-published court documents.

Martin Egli was awarded SFr33,300 ($34,031) in the case, mostly for legal fees. The newswire said that Egli confirmed the verdict. The case is closed, he said, and he made no further comment.

A Swiss judge concluded there was insufficient evidence to convict Egli. The 17-page ruling was delivered in May, but published only later by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court. Details have not been widely reported, even in the Alpine state, the report said.

“It can be presumed in favour of the accused that he believed in the legality of his approach and didn’t consider the possibility that he acted unlawfully for a foreign state,” the ruling said.

In November 2013, Egli’s Swisspartners Group provided records on 109 clients to the US Department of Justice, helping his company secure a relatively mild $4.4 million settlement deal with US authorities chasing tax cheats holding assets abroad.

However, Egli’s actions put him at odds with Switzerland’s strict rules about disclosure of client information. 

Egli remains the chairman of Swisspartners. 

Swiss bank secrecy laws, which in their modern form date back to 1934, have become moribund internationally with the rise of cross-border information-sharing agreements.