FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - A German state has obtained data of Swiss bank accounts with over 100 billion Swiss Francs ($103 billion) in assets and has forwarded the information to 27 countries to verify if taxes have been paid, the state's finance minister said on Thursday.
The data was obtained from CDs that the state of North-Rhine Westphalia had previously bought and evaluated, Finance Minister Norbert Walter-Borjans said on Thursday.
"We are facing an outright tax evasion industry," Walter-Borjans said.
He added that clients based in Great Britain accounted for 10 billion Swiss Francs.