Switzerland yesterday denied offering $10 billion to settle a tax evasion dispute with the United States, saying that the sum cited by local press was “rather impossible”. An economy ministry spokesman said that “we did not make a proposal with a figure”.

He said: “A sum of $10 billion is rather impossible.”

Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday that Switzerland had offered to pay the amount to US tax authorities to regularise assets hidden by Americans in Swiss banks.

It quoted a lawyer close to the US Justice Department confirming the information.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.