FRANCE: UBS APPEALS FOR CASSATION AGAINST ITS CONVICTION FOR TAX FRAUD
ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss bank UBS on Monday announced that it is appealing against its conviction in France for illicit bank directing and laundering of aggravated tax fraud.
The Paris Court of Appeal last week confirmed the conviction of UBS, while reducing the amount the bank will have to pay to 1.8 billion euros (against 4.57 billion euros at first instance).
During the appeal trial, which took place last March, the public prosecutor demanded a fine of at least two billion euros against UBS, while lawyers for the French tax authorities had asked for the payment of one billion euros for damages.
UBS defended itself by arguing that the investigators had never provided proof that the bank had systematically approached French clients to offer them to escape the public treasury.
It further considered that the amount of the fine which it risked incurring should be calculated in relation to the amount represented by the unpaid taxes and not on the total funds which it hosts in Switzerland.
(Tangi Salaün report, edited by Blandine Hénault)