The US blasted a hole in Switzerland's famed bank secrecy yesterday, as Bern agreed to reveal the names of 4,450 wealthy Americans holding offshore accounts at UBS, the country's biggest bank.

昨日，瑞士政府同意披露4450名在该国最大银行瑞银(UBS)持有离岸账户的美国富人的姓名，从而让美国在瑞士闻名的银行保密制度上打开一道缺口。

Washington hailed the deal as a major victory in the clampdown on tax evasion and indicated it would be the foundation of future efforts to pursue other foreign banks.

美国政府称，该协议是在打击逃税行动上取得的重大胜利，并暗示，这将是今后向其它外国银行追查的基础。

“This agreement sends an unmistakable message to people hiding income and assets offshore,” said Douglas Shulman, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, the US tax authority. “The IRS will vigorously pursue tax cheats around the world, no matter how remote or secret the location.”

美国国税局(Internal Revenue Service)局长道格拉斯•苏尔曼(Douglas Shulman)表示：“这份协议向那些隐瞒离岸收入和资产的人传递了一个明白无误的信息。美国国税局将在全球范围对逃税者穷追猛打，不管这个地方有多远或多么秘密。”

Mr Shulman said the IRS would now receive an “unprecedented amount of information on tax evaders” and data of the “greatest interest to us” as a result of the agreement.

苏尔曼表示，协议将会让美国国税局收到“数量前所未有的逃税者信息”和“我们极感兴趣”的数据。

Swiss ministers tried to play down the implications of the deal by arguing that Bern had already agreed in March to accept international standards on tax co-operation after mounting pressure from the G20 group of industrial and developing countries.

瑞士部长们试图淡化该协议的意义，辩称在受到20国集团(G20)工业化国家和发展中国家越来越大的压力后，瑞士政府在3月份已同意接受有关税务合作的国际标准。

However, lawyers said Washington's aggressive pursuit of UBS had become an international showcase and was likely to be monitored closely by other authorities determined to crack down on tax evasion amid rising government deficits.

然而，律师们表示，美国政府对瑞银的穷追猛打已经成为国际榜样，在政府赤字不断上升之际，可能受到决心打击逃税行为的其它国家的密切关注。

The criteria used to select the names on the UBS list will only be revealed in three months, in a deliberate strategy by the IRS to maximise uncertainty and put pressure on more of the bank's estimated 52,000 US offshore customers to come forward voluntarily.

用于选择瑞银客户名单的标准将在3个月里披露，这明显是美国国税局刻意采取的策略，目的是尽可能增大不确定性，施压让更多的瑞银美国离岸客户（估计有5.2万名）主动申报。

Lawyers said that the most likely criterion would be the use of sham companies, allowing account holders to exploit loopholes in US tax rules.

律师表示，最有可能的标准将是账户持有人是否利用美国税法漏洞，注册虚假公司进行逃税。

The US authorities have hinted that many clients have already come clean to take advantage of more lenient punishments. They have extended a formal deadline for self-declaration to encourage others.

美国政府暗示，许多客户已经主动交代，以利用比较宽大的处罚待遇。他们延长了自愿申报的官方截止期限，以鼓励其他人交代问题。

译者/君悦