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.
瑞士有很多别名。第二次世界大战期间流行的绰号“刺猬”，眼下似乎特别适用。当时瑞士为轴心国所包围，为抵御入侵，该国制定了炸毁桥梁与隧道的计划。如今，当美国国税局(Internal Revenue Service)试图强迫瑞银(UBS)提供5.2万名美国客户的姓名时，瑞士再次亮出了尖刺。瑞士政府表示可能会没收上述材料，以防这家瑞士最大的私人银行将信息透露给迈阿密的法庭。与此同时，该庭法官艾伦•格尔德(Alan Gold)也在询问美国当局，如果瑞银不听从要求，是否要查封瑞银在美国的资产。外交官员如今介入了律师不敢涉足的领域。