A senior UBS executive told US lawmakers that the Swiss bank regrets breaking US tax laws, but criticized US authorities' efforts to obtain information on thousands of bank accounts suspected of being used by US tax evaders, media reports said.

"We deeply regret our breaches of US laws," Mark Branson, chief financial officer of Global Wealth Management & Business Banking at UBS, told a Senate subcommittee hearing into a crackdown on offshore tax havens that has called into question Switzerland's cherished tradition of banking secrecy. He was testifying yesterday.

Mr Branson called for a diplomatic resolution of US government efforts to get information from UBS on as many as 52,000 undisclosed accounts sought in a civil lawsuit filed against the bank by the US Internal Revenue Service.

"UBS believes the dispute should be resolved through diplomatic discussions" between the governments of Switzerland and the US, Mr Branson said, adding that the bank believes it has complied as much as possible with the lawsuit.

"The IRS is attempting to resolve this diplomatic dispute in a courtroom, which is neither productive, nor proper," he said.

Mr Branson's remarks came in prepared testimony to be given to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations chaired by Senator Carl Levin, a foe of tax havens estimated to deprive the

US government of $100 billion in annual revenues.

"The rest of the world is getting fed up with offshore tax havens that turn a blind eye to tax evasion and allow their financial institutions, lawyers, accountants, and others to profit from tax dodging," Mr Levin said at the hearing.

The subcommittee hearing convened just hours after UBS, the world's largest banker to the rich, announced that Swiss politician Kaspar Villiger will replace Peter Kurer as its chairman.