UBS Group AG will pay €835 million ($985.6 million) to resolve a yearslong case in France over allegations the Swiss bank helped wealthy clients evade taxes.
The settlement covers activities between 2004 and 2012 and consists of a €730 million criminal fine and €105 million in civil damages to the French state. UBS said it is fully provisioned and framed the agreement as consistent with its plan to clear “legacy” legal issues, according to the Financial Times.
The deal caps a saga that began with a 2019 verdict imposing a €3.7 billion fine and €800 million in damages after French judges found UBS guilty of unlawful client solicitation and aiding money laundering. UBS denied wrongdoing and appealed.
In 2021, a Paris appeals court cut parts of the penalty but maintained the guilty finding; in 2023, France’s Supreme Court upheld the conviction while ordering a reassessment of financial sanctions, setting the stage for this week’s settlement, the newspaper said.
The Swiss giant at times went to great lengths to offer secrecy to its tax-evading clients, according to prosecutors.
“Prosecutors argued that UBS bankers had used self-erasing hard drives, business cards without logos and evasive tactics to move about France in secret to enlist clients illegally at glamorous corporate events,” the Financial Times said.
UBS previously admitted to helping Americans evade taxes in a separate U.S. case, paying $780 million and disclosing client names to avoid criminal charges.
“The resolution of this legacy case is in line with UBS’s intention to resolve such matters in the best interests of all its stakeholders,” the bank said in a statement.
Read more at the Financial Times