Julius Baer reaches agreement in U.S. tax case with extra $200 million in provisions

Julius Baer has set aside nearly $200 million in additional provisions to settle a U.S. criminal investigation that it helped wealthy American clients dodge taxes, the Swiss private bank said on Wednesday.

The bank said it had reached an agreement in principle with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, settling the financial component of the case.

The bank's new provision for the settlement is $547.25 million, more than one and a half times the $350 million Zurich-based Baer had set aside in June to cover potential penalties in the U.S. tax case.

The full resolution remains subject to approval by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the bank said. It expects a resolution with the DOJ in the first quarter of 2016.