UBS, US government seek postponement of client data case (2nd Lead)

Jul 12, 2009, 17:07 GMT

Geneva - Authorities in the United States and the Zurich- based bank UBS AG filed a motion Sunday, with the backing of the Swiss government, to have their court case on client data postponed to allow for further negotiations.

The request to delay the proceedings until August - if no agreement is reached - was filed as the clock ticked down to the start of the trial at 1300 GMT Monday in Miami, Florida.

The US has demanded UBS hand over data on about 52,000 US-tax-paying clients of the bank, and implied it will not be willing to walk away from the case without at least some information.

The Swiss government has said it would seize the data, if the US court demanded its disclosure, to prevent any violations of the Alpine confederation's banking confidentiality laws.

US and Swiss officials are trying to negotiate a solution to the quagmire, and the motion wants to allow them more time for their talks.

'UBS welcomes the announcement that the US and Swiss governments have agreed to negotiations for the purpose of resolving the John Doe summons litigation,' the bank said on its website, using the technical term for the suit.

'Further information is not available as the already ongoing settlement negotiations between the US and Swiss governments are confidential,' the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police said in a statement.

While not disclosing specific details, the US said it would continue to seek information on some of the bank's clients.

'The parties have agreed that any alternative resolution reached would necessarily include a provision requiring UBS to provide the Internal Revenue Service information on a significant number of individuals with UBS accounts,' the US Department of Justice said in a statement on its website.

'If an alternative resolution is not reached, the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously pursue enforcement of the summons through the court,' it read.

Reports in the Swiss media have suggested UBS might hand over some names, probably of clients who were involved in some form of tax fraud, if it could get a guarantee that the case would then be closed.

In February, one day after UBS admitted wrongdoings, handed over information on a reported 250 clients and agreed to pay 780 million dollars in fines, the US launched the new demand for more data. The bank's employees are said to have helped wealthy clients evade paying their taxes.

Switzerland is in the process of renegotiating its double-taxation agreements with various governments, including the US, in order to get off the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's so called 'grey list' of countries without sufficient disclosure.