GALLEN, Switzerland (Reuters) – “If you can’t trust a Swiss banker, what’s the world come to?” asked James Bond in the 1999 film “The World is Not Enough”.

It has come to this: Swiss banks, under pressure from countries such as the United States, France and Germany, have been giving up their secrets, in some cases handing foreign tax authorities the names of their account holders. To avoid being blacklisted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Swiss government has agreed to share more information with foreign authorities hunting tax cheats.

GALLEN, Switzerland, April 18 (Reuters) – “If you can’t
trust a Swiss banker, what’s the world come to?” asked James
Bond in the 1999 film “The World is Not Enough”.

It has come to this: Swiss banks, under pressure from
countries such as the United States, France and Germany, have
been giving up their secrets, in some cases handing foreign tax
authorities the names of their account holders. To avoid being
blacklisted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development, the Swiss government has agreed to share more
information with foreign authorities hunting tax cheats.

ZURICH, April 17 (Reuters) – The Swiss and U.S. governments
are considering a possible solution to a long-running dispute
over Swiss banks accused of helping wealthy Americans evade
billions of dollars of tax.

A source familiar with the talks has told Reuters the two
sides have agreed an outline for a deal that would divide over
300 Swiss banks according to the extent to which they had helped
U.S. clients hide money, to determine how they are dealt with.

ZURICH, April 17 (Reuters) – The Swiss finance minister said
on Wednesday that she wanted all countries to be treated equally
in a drive to stamp out tax evasion, addressing concerns that
Swiss banks had been unfairly singled out in recent years.

“We consider it very important that rules must apply to all
and are engaging ourselves for a level playing field in
multilateral forums,” Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told Reuters in
written responses to emailed questions.

ZURICH, April 17 (Reuters) – The Swiss government is
considering a possible solution to a long-running dispute with
U.S. authorities over Swiss banks accused of helping wealthy
Americans evade billions of dollars of tax.

A source familiar with the talks has told Reuters the two
sides have agreed an outline for a deal that would divide over
300 Swiss banks according to the extent they had helped U.S.
clients hide money, to determine how they are dealt with.