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The Swiss banking association has apologised after its chairman labelled Germany's secret service "the Gestapo" in light of a recent tax fraud probe.

Pierre Mirabaud had told French television in Switzerland that the BND intelligence agency was mirroring the Nazi secret police in a crackdown on tax evaders in Liechtenstein.

But a statement from the Swiss Bankers' Association said it "regretted the impression that could have been conveyed when [Mr Mirabaud] talked about Gestapo methods in relation to the German intelligence service".

Mentions of Nazi-era groups and terminology are extremely taboo in Germany, where Nazi slogans and images are banned by law.

In a bid to play down the row, the Swiss banking association added of its chairman: "He only meant to express his uneasiness about such methods being used by intelligence services against friendly states."

The BND is alleged to have paid millions of euros to obtain sensitive information that led to more than 1,000 people being investigated for tax fraud in the tiny central European state of Liechtenstein.

The German-speaking nation is listed alongside Andorra and Monaco on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's tax-haven black list, the Reuters news agency notes.

BND's tax probe has already led to the resignation of the editor of Deutsche Post after he became implicated in the fraud.