Swiss lawmakers reject deal with US in UBS tax row

GENEVA (AP) - Nationalist and left-wing lawmakers in the Swiss parliament have blocked a treaty with the United States in which Switzerland would hand over files on thousands of suspected tax cheats to U.S. authorities.

A majority of 104 lawmakers in Switzerland's lower house have voted against the deal painstakingly forged last August between Bern and Washington. Seventy-six votes were cast in favor with 16 abstentions.

Tuesday's vote is a defeat for the Swiss government, which had hoped to rid itself of a long-running headache over banking secrecy and lift the threat of U.S. prosecution from Switzerland's largest bank, UBS AG.

The bill will be passed back to the upper house for further debate and could be voted on again by the lower house later this month.