​Many of Switzerland's private bankers breathed a sigh of relief at the acquittal of Raoul Weil, the former head of wealth management at UBS, on charges of helping wealthy Americans dodge taxes. Weil's arrest last year on a weekend sojourn to Bologna and his subsequent extradition to the United States on criminal charges stunned financiers in Zurich and Geneva. It made them think twice about crossing the Swiss border for fear of being caught in the U.S. Justice Department's net. "That Weil was acquitted reassures me a bit. I had concerns about what could happen if Weil had been found guilty," one portfolio manager, whose clients mostly come from outside of Switzerland, said. "To be sure the verdict is not an all-clear. But it makes me a bit more confident that, if big fish like Weil are let free, small fish like me aren't on the radar of the authorities." Weil's acquittal was a major setback for the U.S. Justice Department.

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Reuters