On August 19, 2009, the US government reached an agreement with Switzerland that granted the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) access to information on thousands of Swiss bank accounts. As part of the agreement [PDF], the Swiss government instructed banking giant UBS to turn over information regarding certain anonymous bank accounts. In return, the US ceased unilateral efforts to seek account holder information, including withdrawing motions to enforce "John Doe" summons, although the summons remained in effect. The agreement was eventually approved by the Swiss Parliament and courts after significant opposition from some Swiss parties.


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