U.S. Playing Hardball With UBS

According to the Swiss "justice minister" the U.S. is playing hardball with UBS, and could cause the largest Swiss bank to fail if they pull their license:

She warned the actions of UBS in the United States would threaten all of the bank's activities if its license were to be revoked in the United States.

While Switzerland and the US had negotiated an agreement, under which UBS would hand over information on some 4,500 account holders to the IRS, a Swiss court ruling earlier this month has put the deal in doubt.

Wow. I had wondered how the U.S. was getting UBS to play ball, but now it all makes sense. Threaten to pull the banks charter and seize their assets if they don't cooperate and they would have to cooperate to avoid failure. Hardball to be sure, but I expect an agreement will be reached as a result.