Swiss banking giant, UBS, and the US government have come to a tentative settlement agreement in the prolonged legal battle which has pitted the US government against Swiss banking secrecy.  From the Washington Post:

The U.S. and Swiss governments have tentatively settled a dispute in which the U.S. government was seeking information about thousands of American depositors suspected of using accounts at Switzerland’s largest bank to hide money from the Internal Revenue Service.

The two sides have “reached an agreement in principle on the major issues,” Justice Department lawyer Stuart D. Gibson told a federal judge in Miami Friday morning. Other issues remain, Gibson said. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.

Unfortunately none of the terms of the settlement are public yet, so the jury is still out on the quality of this settlement.

It’s also interesting to note that the settlement was announced on the morning that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to meet with her Swiss counterpart to discuss the deal. Perhaps we’ll get more details at the conclusion of their meeting today.

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