The Court of Cassation examined on Wednesday the appeal of the Swiss bank UBS against its conviction in 2021 to a total of 1.8 billion euros in Paris for laundering aggravated by tax fraud and illegal bank canvassing, a case in which the high court will decide on November 15.
The global heavyweight in wealth management was found guilty on December 13, 2021 by the Paris Court of Appeal, which considered that the bank had indeed, between 2004 and 2012, illegally approached wealthy French taxpayers in order to convince them to open undeclared accounts in Switzerland.
The Court of Appeal pronounced a fine of 3.75 million euros, a confiscation of 1 billion euros (on the deposit of 1.1 billion already paid by UBS) and it granted the French state, civil party, 800 million euros in damages and interest.
This is the heaviest sanction handed down by a court in France for laundering tax fraud.
UBS is contesting the conformity of this decision before the Court of Cassation, which in France is the judge of the law and which does not review the facts.
It was state compensation that was first discussed on Wednesday. At the heart of the debates, the notion of moral harm to the state and in particular of discredit on its anti-money laundering control systems.
For the lawyer advising UBS, Me Patrice Spinosi, compensating the state in this case amounts to opening a legal Pandora’s box, while only cases involving state agents (mayor, military) had until then been concerned by this notion.
UBS also contests its guilt, relying on European law and in particular on a 2004 agreement between Switzerland and the European Union, as well as the confiscation sentence imposed on it.
According to her, this confiscation could not be pronounced, because the law which authorizes it for legal entities only came into force in 2013, that is to say after the alleged events.
The attorney general recommended a cassation, but only on the penalties (confiscation, fine) and damages, not on guilt.
If the Court followed this opinion, it could order a new trial.
The bank’s French subsidiary, UBS France, fined 1.875 million euros for complicity in illegal bank canvassing, has not filed an appeal.
His sentence is final, like those of four former executives – who were given suspended prison sentences of six months to one year, as well as fines ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 euros.