The Swiss bank UBS was ordered by the Court of Appeal in Paris to pay a total of 1.8 billion euros. The sum is well below the 4.5 billion that was imposed in the first instance.
The case dates back to 2004-2012. According to the public prosecutor, UBS is said to have sent employees to France at the time to attract wealthy clients. This was encouraged to invest their money in Switzerland, bypassing the French tax authorities. Overall, it should go to assets of more than ten billion euros.
In addition to UBS, UBS France and six former employees also had to answer in the proceedings. The court sentenced UBS France to almost 1.9 million euros for aiding and abetting the illegal acquisition of clients. Some of the former employees received fines and suspended sentences of several months.
The investigations into the tax affair had started after tips from former UBS employees. In other countries, too, UBS was targeted by the authorities for dealings with tax evaders.
In Germany, the institute agreed with the judiciary in 2014 on a fine of around 300 million euros. In the USA, the bank had already had to accept a fine of 780 million dollars in 2009.
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