UBS chairman under fire over U.S. tax fraud probe: paper

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters

ZURICH (Reuters) - Pressure mounted on Sunday on the chairman of UBS to step down after the Swiss bank was engulfed in a storm of criticism over its handling of a U.S. probe into tax fraud.

The Sonntag newspaper said it had surveyed the 246 members of the upper and lower houses of parliament and 23 said they wanted Peter Kurer to go, while 16 of them also thought Chief Executive Marcel Rohner should step down.

"I am disappointed by the whole UBS leadership. Communication is lacking. The top management no longer feels what moves the people. Peter Kurer should take the consequences," Thomas Hurter from the Swiss People's Party (SVP) told the paper.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE51J18920090222

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related story:

Swiss party wants to punish U.S. for UBS probe

ZURICH, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) called on Saturday for retaliation against the United States over a U.S. tax probe into the country's biggest bank UBS that threatens prized banking secrecy.

The populist SVP, the country's biggest party, said Switzerland should not take in any detainees from the U.S. prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, which the Swiss government said last month it could consider to help shut the camp down.

Switzerland should also reconsider its policy of representing the United States in countries where it has no diplomatic presence, the parliamentary SVP said in a statement.

The SVP said gold stored by the Swiss National Bank in the United States should be repatriated and Switzerland should ban the sale of U.S. funds in the country to protect Swiss investors after the failure of U.S. regulators.

[denverbill]

1. Ah, the Swiss. Always happy to take ill-gotten gains. And remain neutral.

Whether it was gold melted down from the fillings of concentration camp victims, or third world dictators skimming off billions for themselves while their country starves, they always know they have a friendly banker in Switzerland.

[meeloo]

2. It's time for the secretive Swiss bank laws to tumble....

We need more transparency throughout the global financial system