Monday, December 13, 2021
Tax fraud in France
The verdict against UBS is much milder
The world’s largest asset manager, UBS, is said to have lured wealthy French clients into tax evasion for years. In an appeal process, the money house was found guilty again, but the verdict is much milder than in the first instance.
UBS has achieved a substantial reduction in the fine in a French tax proceeding. A Paris appeal court found the major Swiss bank guilty of illicit financial transactions and aiding and abetting money laundering of the income from tax fraud. At the same time, however, the Cour d’appel lowered the sentence to a total of 1.8 billion euros.
The payment consists of a fine of one billion euros and damages of 800 million euros. In the first judgment in 2019, another court had imposed a record fine totaling 4.5 billion euros. “The bank takes note of this decision,” said UBS attorney Herve Temime after the verdict was announced. Compared to the first instance, the bank got off better. “But it is a criminal conviction and so we will make our decision very quickly.”
According to experts, it is particularly painful for the UBS that the bank was convicted of aiding and abetting money laundering. However, it was initially unclear whether one of the parties would appeal. The next instance would be the Court of Cassation. That court could contradict the decision of the appellate court in whole or in part, and it could refer the case back to the appellate court for retrial.
UBS – the world’s largest wealth manager for the rich – denied any criminal misconduct and demanded an acquittal. The institute and some former employees were accused of systematically helping tax evaders from France between 2004 and 2012 to hide money in Switzerland. So far, the institute has set aside 450 million euros for the case. Investors reacted with relief to the sharp reduction in the fine, with the share gaining 1.1 percent.