UBS Gives Information On Swiss Rivals In US Tax Dispute -Report

American investigators broadened their inquiries into alleged tax evasion to Swiss private banks such as Wegelin & Co. and Julius Baer Holding AG (BAER.VX) using information from voluntary disclosure programs and dossiers obtained from UBS AG (UBS), Handelszeitung reports in an article to be published Thursday.

The newspaper says the documents from closed UBS accounts showed where the funds from the secret bank accounts were being transferred.

UBS said the Swiss financial regulator ordered it to deliver to the Swiss authorities the closing instructions and correspondents of its clients.

The authorities then took this information to the U.S., the report adds.

"This is a public fact and not news," UBS spokesman Serge Steiner said.

Markus Diethelm, chief counsel at UBS, told the paper: "We had clear evidence that an indictment of the bank by the U.S. Justice Department was imminent."

Newspaper website: www.handelszeitung.ch

-Zurich Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]