Swiss Legislators Support U.S. Tax Deal

The Swiss Parliament’s upper house voted Thursday in favor of Switzerland’s deal with the U.S. government to share the identities of 4,450 U.S. clients of UBS with numbered bank accounts.

The lower house of Parliament has not yet voted on the agreement, which the two governments signed last August, but a vote is expected next week, according to The New York Times. A Swiss court objected in January to the transfer of the client information, citing violations of Swiss banking secrecy laws, prompting the Swiss Parliament to take up the matter.

A report by Parliament’s oversight committee earlier this week harshly criticized the government’s handling of UBS. The 360-page report blamed the government for waiting five months before it took action to avert the bank’s financial problems and not recognizing the seriousness of the U.S. tax investigation, according to World Radio Switzerland.

The report recommended that Switzerland’s financial services regulator, FINMA, look into whether UBS executives were aware that the bank was violating U.S. tax laws. One Swiss political party wants a special investigative panel to be appointed.