Cabinet tells UBS to reimburse legal costs
The Swiss government says bank UBS must foot part of the bill for the millions of francs it incurred during legal proceedings in the United States over tax evasion.
The case between US tax authorities and the Swiss banking giant have so far cost the federal government SFr2.5 million ($2.3 million) according to a justice ministry statement released on Wednesday.
UBS will be asked to pay SFr1 million. The bank helped scores of Americans and other foreigners evade taxes at home by parking their money in Switzerland.
The cabinet said that the first request for administrative assistance by the US in tracking down tax evaders cost it SFr1.5 million.
The total for the second request has not been tallied but costs could eventually reach SFr37 million. That figure does not include the cost of placing more judges at the Federal Administrative Court for 2009-2011, which is about SFr8.6 million.
Parliament will vote on an agreement reached in 2009 with the US that would see it hand over data on thousands of UBS customers. A date for the vote has not been set.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.