German Lawmakers Reject Pact on Hidden Swiss Bank Accounts

Germany’s upper house of Parliament rejected an accord over undeclared bank accounts in Switzerland, dealing a blow to Swiss efforts to retain European clients spooked by a crackdown on tax evasion.

The Bundesrat, controlled by opposition parties after state election losses by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, voted to block the agreement signed by the two nations last year. While details of today’s vote in Berlin weren’t disclosed, the outcome had been on the cards for months with the Social Democratic and Green parties lobbying against the accord.