John Doe case likely to be dropped by US, says Bern

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - Data is being handed over by Switzerland to the United States for approximately half of the 4,450 UBS bank accounts for which the US requested data in 2009, Bern announced Thursday afternoon 26 August.

According to the terms of a bilateral treaty signed in August 2009 Swiss authorities reviewed the bank accounts for possible evidence of fraud and delivered data in cases that met precise criteria agreed to by the two countries.

The official statement from the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) notes:

Insofar as the decisions of the FTA are legally binding, the data was supplied to the United States. This occurred in around half of the cases. Despite the delay caused by the Federal Administrative Court’s ruling, the data delivery will be largely concluded by autumn 2010.

Talks are being held between the contracting parties regarding the final stage of the agreement’s implementation. Both parties are optimistic that the US authorities will receive most of the agreed account information within a reasonable period of time and that the US authorities will definitively withdraw the civil action (John Doe Summons) brought against UBS.

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