UBS to Give 4,450 Names in Settlement
UBS AG will hand over some 4,450 names of U.S. account holders as part of a U.S.-Swiss tax-evasion settlement and investigation that could produce in total 10,000 account identities, according to people familiar with the situation.
Details of the settlement, which was reached earlier this month, are expected to be provided over the next half-hour. Swiss and Internal Revenue Service officials plan to provide those details, these people said.
UBS is not expected to pay a monetary fine as part of the settlement, which was negotiated between U.S. and Swiss officials in recent weeks. The U.S. inquiry was led by the Justice Department and IRS.
Aside from the account identities being turned over by UBS, some 5,000 names are expected to be produced through a special IRS amnesty program where UBS clients acknowledge unpaid income tax.
The 10,000 identities in total also are expected to include the some 250 names produced by UBS as part of a $780 million criminal settlement reached with the Justice Department in February.
If the total identities do reach 10,000, it would represent a staggering number of Americans who banked with UBS and now are having to have their identities revealed.
It's not clear how UBS -- and the Swiss government -- have decided on the 4,450 names. Lawyers involved in representing UBS clients believe that violations of Swiss law would be a factor.
Lawyers also believe that those who are being turned over by UBS will have a chance to fight the turnover in a Swiss tribunal.
Write to Carrick Mollenkamp at carrick.mollenkamp@wsj.com, Laura Saunders at laura.saunders@wsj.com and Evan Perez at evan.perez@wsj.com
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