Switzerland frees banks to settle US tax evasion cases

Switzerland aims to save its banks from heavier punishment in the United States for helping wealthy tax cheats by sidestepping its own famed secrecy laws to let bankers disclose data to US prosecutors.

A government bill put to parliament on Wednesday would let Swiss banks hand over internal information to US authorities in the hope of avoiding threatened criminal charges - though the banks still face fines likely to total billions of dollars.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1249639/switzerland-frees-banks-settle-us-tax-evasion-cases