Switzerland to agree plan for banks to settle US tax spat

Switzerland said it has agreed to a draft plan with the US for the country's banks to settle a tax-evasion dispute after years of diplomatic wrangling.

The Swiss Finance Ministry has been instructed to complete work on a joint statement with the

US, the Bern-based government said in an announcement on Wednesday.

"It shouldn't be too long" before the statement is signed, Andre Simonazzi, a government spokesman, told reporters in the Swiss capital.

The agreement is the result of more than two years of negotiations over US probes of at least a dozen banks, including Credit Suisse Group AG and Julius Baer Group Ltd, which allegedly helped Americans evade taxes. While some of those banks are already in settlement talks, the US Justice Department wants to widen its crackdown by forcing other Swiss wealth managers to disclose data on cross-border accounts.

"I would imagine the Justice Department would want the end game to be a voluntary disclosure program for banks where they can come forward, admit their wrongdoing, if any, avoid prosecution, and not subject themselves to further scrutiny by the United States," said Jeffrey Neiman, a former US tax prosecutor based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Swiss Bankers Association, which represents more than 300 banks, welcomed the government's announcement.