UBS Intends to Challenge Enforcement of IRS "John Doe" Summons

UBS AG (UBS) announced today that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as was expected, has commenced a civil action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida seeking judicial enforcement of a civil “John Doe” summons that was served upon UBS in July 2008.

UBS believes it has substantial defenses to the enforcement of the John Doe summons and intends to vigorously contest the enforcement of the summons in the civil proceeding, as is permitted under the terms of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement entered into on 18 February.

Objections to the enforcement of the IRS summons are based upon U.S. law, the terms of UBS’s Qualified Intermediary Agreement with the IRS, Swiss financial privacy and other laws, and the principles of international comity that require U.S. courts to take into account foreign laws.

The IRS’s John Doe summons seeks information regarding a substantial number of undisclosed accounts maintained by U.S. persons at UBS in Switzerland, whose information is protected from disclosure by Swiss financial privacy laws.