Association president Patrick Odier made the comments after newspapers reported on Sunday the united states had given an ultimatum to Switzerland, saying Credit Suisse and nine other banks could face charges unless home elevators US tax evaders using Swiss accounts was handed more than this week.
"There cannot be an ultimatum. Friendly states should have a will to negotiate, " Odier told a information conference.
"I am sure that the United States understands that people are not a banana republic and that you want to defend our legal order just as America also wants to do and that's why I am hopeful that a solution is feasible. "
Odier said Switzerland must avoid reverting to emergency law since it did to settle a US investigation against UBS whenever it bent strict bank secrecy laws to reveal information on some 4, 450 UBS clients to avoid criminal costs.
"Bank client secrecy protects wealth and does not conceal it. This protection remains important, " he said.
Switzerland's Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said in an interview on Swiss television that using emergency law wasn't an option and criticised the way US authorities had proceeded in this instance.
"I am against ultimatums. This is no way of coping with other states. We told the Americans how we desired to solve the problem they identified, and we acknowledge and we stay with this, " she said.
Asked whether Switzerland could deliver client data towards the US by Tuesday, she said: "That would mean using emergency law and we're not applying emerging law right here. "
The United States has ratcheted up the pressure recently, telling Credit Suisse it is a target of a formal investigation and indicting numerous Swiss bankers, alleging they helped former UBS clients shift assets to other Swiss banks instead of coming clean to the taxman.
A long tradition of bank secrecy has helped Switzerland develop a $2 trillion offshore financial industry, but the country has agreed recently to do more to help hunt tax cheats amid a worldwide crackdown on tax havens.
DEALS WITH GERMANY, BRITAIN
Odier said an accord should be possible under the terms from the existing UBS deal and a new double taxation agreement with america that Switzerland approved in 2009 but is still awaiting ratification through the US Senate.
"The United States should take note from the example of the tax agreements with Germany and Great britain. Bilateral problems between friendly states should be able to become solved in an amicable way, " Odier said.
Final month, Switzerland agreed with Germany and Britain to tax cash kept by their residents in secret Swiss accounts as well as introduce a withholding tax on future interest earned, the proposal rejected by Washington.
The government is keen to locate a solution that would avoid needing the approval of parliament which only reluctantly decided to the UBS treaty under emergency law last year, especially in front of Swiss elections next month.
But the United States appears to be pushing for more than current Swiss law would permit, seeking details of all US clients with accounts worth a minimum of $50, 000 between 2002 and 2010 at banks such as Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and Wegelin as well since the Zurich and Basel cantonal banks.
Two Swiss Sunday documents said a letter sent by US Deputy Attorney Common James Cole on Aug. 31 demands detailed figures upon tax evasion at Credit Suisse by Tuesday.
The SonntagsZeitung newspaper cited a banking source as saying the Swiss banks will also need to pay a fine of up to 2 billion Switzerland francs ($2. 6 billion).
Mario Tuor, a spokesman for that Swiss department for international financial affairs, would only say that talks are underway which Berne wants a solution based on existing law.
Gives in Credit Suisse closed down 8. 1%, falling even more than the European banking sector which was off 5. 9%, after news a US regulator is suing several banks inside a separate matter.