Wednesday July 29, 03:46 PM
US judge postpones delay in UBS tax evasion case
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US federal judge in Miami on Wednesday postponed a decision to delay a UBS (Virt-X: UBSN.VX - news) tax evasion trial, giving all parties until Friday to reach a settlement.
Judge Alan Gold said he would hold the trial as planned on Monday unless the Swiss banking giant and the US and Swiss governments agree to a postponement or reach a deal in a Friday conference call.
"I'm prepared to start this case Monday ... unless everybody has an agreement that it should be postponed or there is a settlement," Judge Alan Gold said in a conference call with parties in the case.
Lawyers representing UBS had requested a delay until August 7 to give the parties involved -- the bank along with the US and Swiss governments -- more time to negotiate a settlement.
The judge had postponed the trial on June 13 at the request of the bank and the two governments to allow negotiations.
The US government is suing Switzerland's biggest bank to force it to reveal the identities of thousands of US clients with offshore accounts.
UBS has argued that it cannot comply with the US demand without violating Swiss banking secrecy law, which would make it liable for prosecution in Switzerland.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed earlier this year and affects as many as 52,000 US taxpayers suspected of holding UBS offshore accounts to avoid paying US taxes.
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