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tax

Swiss Court Slams Shut Barn Door

New York Times: Swiss Regulators’ Demand of UBS Client Data Found Illegal. A Swiss court said Friday that the country’s financial regulator had broken the law when it ordered UBS to hand over data on nearly 300 clients suspected of evading taxes to U.S. authorities a year ago.

Too late. Buried in the fourth paragraph:

[I]t is far too late to halt the transmission of certain clients’ data[.]

No kidding. If UBS sent its client data to the IRS via Outlook, maybe UBS can still recall its e-mail. 🙂 Regardless of the Swiss court ruling, the damage to Swiss banking has already been done. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men, won’t be able to restore the confidence in secret Swiss bank accounts again.