Swiss upper house backs US tax deal to protect banks

Switzerland cleared the first hurdle towards ending a long-running US tax probe after one chamber of lawmakers voted to allow banks to sidestep strict secrecy laws to end the threat of criminal charges for helping wealthy Americans evade tax.

The draft law is set to face far tougher opposition in Switzerland’s lower house next week than in the upper chamber, which passed it by a decisive 24 votes to 15 on Wednesday.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1259710/swiss-upper-house-backs-us-tax-deal-protect-banks