U.S. Government Suing UBS to Get at Names of the Rich

The lawsuit came just a day after UBS agreed to pay US$780-million and identify some clients in a deal to resolve criminal fraud charges that it helped wealthy Americans evade taxes. Court papers show the Internal Revenue Service feared it might get details on as few as 12 accounts from the Swiss government versus the 52,000 undeclared accounts that U.S. authorities allege were held by UBS for U.S. customers. UBS said it would fight the suit, saying the information is protected by Swiss financial privacy laws. For more information, see attached pdf.