Switzerland has been called many things. Hedgehog, an epithet popular during the second world war, seems particularly apt now. Then, when it was surrounded by the Axis Powers, it drew up plans to dynamite bridges and tunnels to defend itself from invasion. Now, as the US Internal Revenue Service seeks to force UBS to disclose the names of 52,000 of its US clients, Switzerland has shown its spines again. Bern says it might confiscate the data to prevent Switzerland's largest private bank from releasing them to a Miami court. Alan Gold, its aptly named US judge, has meanwhile asked the US authorities whether they would seize UBS's US assets if the bank does not comply. Diplomats are now stepping in where lawyers fear to tread.
瑞士有很多別名。第二次世界大戰期間流行的綽號「刺蝟」，眼下似乎特別適用。當時瑞士爲軸心國所包圍，爲抵禦入侵，該國制定了炸燬橋樑與隧道的計劃。如今，當美國國稅局(Internal Revenue Service)試圖強迫瑞銀(UBS)提供5.2萬名美國客戶的姓名時，瑞士再次亮出了尖刺。瑞士政府表示可能會沒收上述材料，以防這家瑞士最大的私人銀行將資訊透露給邁阿密的法庭。與此同時，該庭法官艾倫•格爾德(Alan Gold)也在詢問美國當局，如果瑞銀不聽從要求，是否要查封瑞銀在美國的資產。外交官員如今介入了律師不敢涉足的領域。