On 18 February 2009, UBS agreed to pay a fine of US$780 million to the U.S. government and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) on charges of conspiring to defraud the United States by impeding the Internal Revenue Service. The DPA obliged UBS to pay US$780 million to settle criminal charges, and criminal charges were dismissed.[191][192] The figures include interest, penalties, restitution for unpaid taxes and disgorgement of profits. As part of the deal, UBS also settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges of having acted as an unregistered broker/dealer and investment adviser for Americans.[193]
The day after settling its criminal case on 19 February 2009, the U.S. government filed a civil suit against UBS to reveal the names of all 52,000 American customers, alleging that the bank and these customers conspired to defraud the IRS and federal government of the legitimately owed tax revenue. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) had provided to the United States government the identities of, and account information for, certain United States customers of UBS’s cross-border business as part of its criminal investigation in 2009. On 12 August 2009, UBS announced a settlement deal that ended its litigation with the IRS.[194] However, this settlement set up a showdown between the U.S. and Swiss governments over the secrecy of Swiss bank accounts. It was not until June 2010 that Swiss lawmakers approved a deal to reveal client data and account details of U.S. clients who were suspected of tax evasion.[195]
