The Swiss government signalled it wants to complete a joint statement with the US which, it hopes, will end a long-standing row concerning Swiss banks accused of holding money of US tax evaders.

The Swiss government signalled it wants to complete a joint statement with the US which, it hopes, will end a long-standing row concerning Swiss banks accused of holding money of US tax evaders.

“At its meeting today [Tuesday], the Federal Council discussed the proposal for resolving past issues in the tax dispute with the United States and gave its agreement in principle to the finalisation of a joint statement. The Federal Council has instructed the Federal Department of Finance to conclude the corresponding work. As soon as the joint statement has been signed with the United States, the text of the document will be published,” the Swiss government said in a statement on its website.

“The signing of the joint statement should enable Swiss banks to resolve the tax dispute with the United States within the scope of existing legislation. The dispute has put a strain on relations between the two countries in the past,” it said.   

A number of prominent Swiss banks, such as UBS and Julius Baer, for example, no longer provide offshore banking for US citizens. In the case of UBS, the largest Swiss bank agreed in 2009 that details on some of its clients would be passed to US authorities as part of settlements of civil and criminal charges. More recently, Wegelin, Switzerland’s oldest bank, ceased to exist in its old form after admitting to charges in the US of aiding US tax evaders. (The non-US part of that firm has been bought by Raiffeisen in Switzerland and now operates under the Notenstein brand.)

The Swiss Bankers Association welcomed the latest move by the Swiss authorities.

"The programme enables all banks in Switzerland to settle their US past quickly and conclusively and creates the necessary legal certainty. As soon as the programme becomes public, each bank will analyse its situation and then make a decision,” it said in a statement. “A further positive factor is that the protection of employees can now be afforded to the best possible extent, as the agreement between the two social partners and the SBA will come into effect,” it added.