ZURICH, June 18 (Reuters) - Switzerland's lower house ofparliament refused on Tuesday to address a bill aimed at endinga long-running U.S. tax probe into hidden offshore accounts atSwiss banks, stalling a bid to protect the country's banksagainst criminal charges.
The move gives the government less time to push through thedraft law before the end of the parliament summer session onFriday. The bill is designed to allow banks to disclose data toU.S. prosecutors to help settle investigations into tax evasion.
The Swiss lower house voted by a large majority not todiscuss the legislation, referring the bill back to lawmakers inthe upper house, which backed it last week and which could givethe lower house a second chance to debate the law this week.
U.S. authorities have more than a dozen banks under formalinvestigation, including Credit Suisse, Julius Baer, the Swiss arm of Britain's HSBC, privatelyheld Pictet in Geneva and local government-backed ZuercherKantonalbank and Basler Kantonalbank.