Justice Department and UBS settlement reported likely

The New York Times reported today that the U.S. and UBS AG are likely to reach a settlement possibly as soon as mid-July over the Justice Department's efforts to get the names of 52,000 UBS clients who the U.S. says evaded taxes.

The Times said that Swiss government officials are considering giving the Justice Department filings made in Swiss court by extremely wealthy UBS clients, which would provide the names of some of the 52,000 UBS clients the Justice Department is investigating for tax evasion. The U.S. then would drop the case.

The agreement "would allow Switzerland to say that it has not breached its own secrecy laws," the Times said.