Germany may buy stolen Swiss bank data

Although the information is expected to yield as much as 200m euro in recouped tax revenues, the move will do nothing to ameliorate the relationship between the neighboring countries, which remains fragile following a dispute last year over tax evasion. The Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz says Swiss authorities will not offer any help on tax matters involving stolen information. Swiss banks, already shaken from attacks on bank secrecy by the US, France and Germany, have cautioned the German government not to pay for such data. James Nason, spokesman of the Swiss Bankers Associ...