Swiss Bankers' Chief Downbeat On U.S. Tax Settlement - Report

ZURICH--The head of the Swiss bankers' association is pessimistic about a speedy solution to the tax dispute between Switzerland and the U.S, he said in an interview published Sunday.

Patrick Odier told Sonntags Blick that negotiations which have been running for two years were long and difficult.

"Today no one is sure that a good solution will come," he is quoted as saying.

He admitted mistakes had been made in the past about untaxed money held by foreign nationals in Swiss bank accounts, but this was being corrected.

Earlier this month, Switzerland's oldest bank was ordered to pay a total of $74 million to the U.S. government in the first-ever criminal sentence for a foreign bank accused of violating U.S. tax laws.

Wegelin & Co. fell prey to a broad U.S. crackdown on secret American bank accounts overseas. Under U.S. law, Americans must declare foreign bank accounts and pay taxes on income earned from interest or investments in those accounts.

The U.S. government previously obtained a $780 million settlement with UBS AG (UBS) in 2009, and tax probes continue of other Swiss banks including Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) and Julius Baer (BAER.VX).

Newspaper website: www.blick.ch/sonntagsblick/

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

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