SWITZERLAND HAS said it would seize UBS data to prevent the US justice department from pursuing a US court order seeking the identities of 52,000 American account holders in a crackdown on tax evaders.

The assertion came in court papers yesterday in federal court in Miami, where the justice department sued UBS on February 19th, a day after the bank avoided US prosecution for helping wealthy Americans evade taxes.

The US effort to enforce a summons seeking the names would force UBS to violate Swiss laws barring disclosure of such data, the filing said. The Swiss government “will use its legal authority to ensure that the bank cannot be pressured to transmit the information illegally, including if necessary by issuing an order taking effective control of the data at UBS that is the subject of the summons”, according to the filing.

UBS agreed in February to pay $780 million (€563 million) in penalties, admitted it helped taxpayers hide money in Swiss accounts and gave the internal revenue service (IRS) more than 250 clients’ names.

The bank and Switzerland have since argued that the US lawsuit represents a threat to Swiss sovereignty. US district judge Alan Gold will hold a hearing on the case next Monday.

“It is hoped that it will be unnecessary for the government of Switzerland to take the extraordinary action of issuing an order to seize the information at issue, but such an action should be expected if the IRS continues to pressure UBS to violate Swiss law,” according to the filing.

Judge Gold yesterday denied a UBS motion seeking the number of accounts identified to the IRS through voluntary disclosures.

UBS had said such data presented an alternative method to gain the information sought in the lawsuit. – (Bloomberg)