Barclays says its Swiss private bank is part of US tax deal

ZURICH, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Barclays private bank inSwitzerland became the latest bank to say it would work withU.S. officials in a crackdown on wealthy Americans evading taxesthrough hidden offshore accounts.

The British lender is a rare foreign bank in Switzerland toadmit to signing up to a scheme brokered by the Swiss and U.S.governments in August in order to make amends for aiding taxevasion.

"Barclays Bank (Suisse) SA and Barclays Bank plc GenevaBranch are participating in the programme, which requires astructured review of U.S. accounts," Barclays said in its annualreport, disclosed on Tuesday along with 12,000 jobs cuts.

"This review is ongoing and the outcome of the review willdetermine whether any agreement will be entered into or sanctionapplied to Barclays Bank (Suisse) SA and Barclays Bank plcGeneva Branch."

Barclays could not immediately be reached for furthercomment.

The deadline to complete the review is April 30, Barclayssaid. It did not elaborate on whether its American clients hidassets through offshore accounts in Switzerland.

The programme, which requires the banks to hand out somepreviously hidden information and potentially face penalties ofup to 50 percent of assets they managed on behalf of U.S.clients, has already brought a host of Swiss banks to comeforward.

HSBC Holdings PLC's Swiss arm is in the crosshairsof a U.S. probe, which also targets Credit Suisse,Julius Baer and unlisted rivals such as Pictet.However, attention has since shifted to the wider Swiss bankingindustry under the program.

The U.S. Justice Department said recently it had received106 requests from Swiss entities to participate in a settlementprogramme aimed at resolving the matter, but did not disclosespecifics.

Barclays

HSBC Holdings