Jul 12, 2009, 19:28 GMT
Geneva - Authorities in the United States and the Zurich- based bank UBS AG filed a joint motion Sunday, with the backing of the Swiss government, to have their court case on secret client data postponed to allow for further negotiations.
The request to delay the proceedings until August - if no agreement is reached - was filed as the clock ticked down to the start of the trial at 1300 GMT Monday in Miami.
Judge Alan Gold, presiding over the court, would have to rule on the joint motion.
The US has slapped UBS with a demand that it hand over data on about 52,000 US-tax-paying clients of the bank, and implied it will not be willing to walk away from the case without at least some information. The bank's employees are said to have helped wealthy clients evade paying their taxes.
The Swiss government has said it would seize the data, if the US court demanded its disclosure, to prevent any violations of the Alpine confederation's renowned banking confidentiality laws. UBS has said it would likely face prosecution from authorities in its home base if it divulged protected data.
US and Swiss officials are trying to negotiate a solution to the quagmire, and the motion wants to allow them more time for their talks.
'UBS welcomes the announcement that the US and Swiss governments have agreed to negotiations for the purpose of resolving the John Doe summons litigation,' the bank said, using the technical term for the suit.
'Further information is not available as the already ongoing settlement negotiations between the US and Swiss governments are confidential,' the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police said in a statement.
While not disclosing specific details, the US said it would continue to seek information on some of the bank's clients.
'The parties have agreed that any alternative resolution reached would necessarily include a provision requiring UBS to provide the Internal Revenue Service information on a significant number of individuals with UBS accounts,' the US Department of Justice said.
Reports in the Swiss media have suggested UBS, the largest bank in the Alpine country by assets, might hand over some names, probably of clients who were involved in forms of tax fraud, if it could get a guarantee that the case would then be closed.
In February, one day after UBS admitted wrongdoing, handed over information on a reported 250 clients and agreed to pay 780 million dollars in fines, the US launched the new demand for more data.
Switzerland is in the process of renegotiating its double-taxation agreements with various governments, including the US, in order to get off the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's so called 'grey list' of countries without sufficient disclosure.
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