Parliament split over UBS referendum
Parliament remains divided over whether a deal between Switzerland and the United States over confidential UBS client data should be put to a nationwide vote.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday insisted on the possibility of a referendum, while the Senate again came out against.
Most members of the centre-left Social Democrats and the Greens as well as many representatives of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party continued to call for a nationwide vote.
The centre-right stood by its rejection of a referendum.
Both chambers will now try to hammer out a compromise on Thursday.
Under a deal, agreed by the government last August, Switzerland was to hand over to the US details of up to 4,450 UBS accounts of clients suspected of tax evasion. But in January a court ruled the transfer of the data to Washington was illegal.
On Tuesday, a majority of the House had followed the Senate in approving the accord conditionally.
Urs Geiser, swissinfo.ch
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