Credit Suisse will hand over details of wealthy Americans with hidden Swiss accounts to the Swiss government, bringing U.S. authorities one step closer to obtaining names of alleged tax cheats. The bank said today it was complying with a request from the Swiss government for account information after U.S. authorities requested Switzerland's help in catching Americans suspected of tax fraud. Credit Suisse had already begun notifying U.S. clients it intended to give their names to Swiss tax officials following a request from their U.S. counterpart. Credit Suisse and the Swiss department responsible for international financial affairs declined to say how many clients were involved in the request. U.S. authorities, which suspect tens of thousands of Americans of evading billions of dollars in taxes through Swiss private banks in recent years, have been conducting a widening criminal investigation into scores of Swiss banks, including Credit Suisse. The Swiss government has been in talks with U.S. authorities for months to secure a deal that would end investigations into U.S. clients at 11 Swiss banks in return for payment of fines and the transfer of names of clients suspected of evading taxes. Switzerland managed to strike a deal with the U.S. authorities in 2009 for UBS, which involved UBS paying a fine of $780mn, allowing it to avert criminal charges. It later also revealed details of around 4,450 clients. Swiss bank secrecy, which helped the country become the world's biggest offshore banking center with $2tn in assets, has come under fire in recent years from cash-strapped governments clamping down on tax evasion. Switzerland has agreed to do more to help other countries hunt tax cheats, recently securing deals with Britain and Germany to regularize untaxed accounts. [Reuters, 11/8/11]