UBS has been hit with fines of €3.7bn and ordered to repay €800m in damages in France after the Swiss bank was found guilty of helping rich clients evade paying tax.
The French courts found UBS guilty of laundering the proceeds of tax evasion and illegally soliciting clients in France. It fined the bank €3.7bn, the company said in a regulatory filing, the largest such fine in French history. UBS has also been ordered to pay an additional €800m in damages to the French state.
UBS said it “strongly disagrees with the verdict” and will appeal.
It added: “The bank has consistently contested any criminal wrongdoing in this case throughout the investigation and during the trial. The conviction is not supported by any concrete evidence, but instead is based on the unfounded allegations of former employees who were not even heard at the trial.”
The sum of the fines and damages are less than the €5.3bn that the bank could have faced with the French government, which originally demanded €1.6bn in damages on top of the €3.7bn fine.
