Court Order Nets IRS Names of Swiss Bank Customers

Professor Thomas Lys says Switzerland's tradition of banking secrecy started prior to World War II

August 24, 2009 | by Brendan Cosgrove

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Swiss bank UBS has indicated it will comply with a federal judge’s order to provide the IRS with the names of some of the bank’s clients who may have evaded U.S. income tax by storing money overseas. Thomas Lys, professor of accounting information and management at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, discusses the significance of UBS's move and the history of Swiss banking secrecy.