The timeout of the titans seems to have become a truce.  

Swiss banking giant UBS and the IRS have come to an understanding in their fight over bank account privacy for more than 52,000 U.S. swiss bank account holders. The Washington Post’s David S. Hilzerath says that this averts a public airing of the bank’s dirty laundry.

“U.S. and Swiss negotiators have initialed a settlement that averts a legal showdown over the U.S. government's landmark challenge to Swiss bank secrecy…Barring a deal, a trial in the case, which had already been postponed three times in recent weeks, was scheduled to begin Aug. 17.”

This result was seen as a win for UBS by almost all media sources. Politics Daily’s headline reads, “UBS off the hook.”  They continue…

“On the strength of information provided by former UBS private banker Bradley Birkenfeld on the bank's tax practices, U.S. tax authorities were poised to tear down the wall of Swiss banking secrecy.

Yet, such an outcome now appears out of reach.”

Dealbreaker blog goes a bit tongue in cheek in their treatment of the resolution.

“Having made it to the last round of the Jeopardy! Tax Evasion Tournament of Champions, UBS is taking its time to come up with the 52,000 responses to the Final Jeopardy answer 'This individual attempted to circumvent the US tax code and deny the IRS its inalienable right to their money by hiding assets with you'.”

But, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t criticisms and anticipated consequences. The Financial Times offers two different articles that point to problems with the result and the likelihood that changes will still be afoot for swiss banking.

"The Swiss, however, do not have a self-evident right to profit from aiding people to evade the laws of other countries. Switzerland's financial secrecy is a vessel for tax evasion, and the U.S. would be justified in taking action against Swiss banks that it suspects of abetting breaches of U.S. law."

Consequently, the Financial Times predicts in a subsequent article that swiss banking laws may change as a result of this near titanic clash.

One sign of such movement comes from Euronews, which captured video of the swiss cabinet meeting just before the UBS deal was announced, reportedly to discuss changes to the swiss banking secrecy laws that led to the whole conflict.

Still, even if switzerland opens its books, there are still plenty of other places people can stash their cash, as this internet entrepreneur reminds us in an informative youtube video.

So, what do you think about banking secrecy?  Is this the beginning of the end of it, or will the money just flow to new shady spots around the world?