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The article discusses implications of a Swiss court decision that ruled UBS AG need not release to the U.S. information on accounts held by U.S. citizens. The ruling contradicts a prior agreement under which UBS agreed to provide the U.S. Internal Revenue Service with the identities of over 4400 account holders.

The article focuses on the international implications of the settlement between the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and UBS AG which forces the Swiss bank to disclose the identities behind 4,450 secret accounts. Swiss banking officials regard the settlement as a diplomatic success as opposed to what many hails as a victory for U.S. tax authorities. Also noted is the plan of Switzerland to adopt the standards on taxation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The article reports on the settlement negotiation between UBS AG and the U.S. and Swiss governments in August 2009 in an effort to create a pact that would abolish Swiss bank secrecy. It was noted that all parties are trying to establish a deal that will lead UBS to provide client information on accounts related to U.S. citizens. According to some lawyers, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is attempting to determine the identities of U.S. citizens related to 52,000 accounts.