You really do not understand very much about the matter. The point is that the Swiss government always protected the privacy of the banks clients, even if they are alleged tax fraudsters. There is Swiss law, there is US law and there are contracts between both countries how to deal with US customers who have money in Switzerland.

In this case, the Bundesrat, the executive branch of the government, pretty surprisingly in the middle of a case made the decision to open the books. It is not clear if this is actually illegal according to Swiss laws and it is definitely against the way the government works: This should not be decided by the Bundesrat, but by the judges...

so what made the Bundesrat to behave this way? That is what the media is discussing. It is good for the UBS in the short run, but pretty bad for the country and financial place in the long run... the signal is that you cannot really say if your data is safe here anymore as it used to be.... and there are some pretty wealthy people bringing business here based on that fact. If this is ethical is a completely different story...