UBS is guilty of UNLAWFUL CLIENT SOLICITATION and AGGRAVATED MONEY LAUNDERING and is fined €835 million.

Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG has agreed to pay €835 million to settle a long-running French legal case stemming from its 2019 conviction for helping wealthy clients evade taxes.

UBS said in a statement.

• “The French Supreme Court definitively confirmed the Paris Court of Appeal’s prior decision finding UBS guilty of unlawful client solicitation and aggravated money laundering
• But referred the financial penalty and civil damages to be re-assessed by the lower court,”

Bloomberg and others have reported that UBS Group AG ended a long-running legal case over helping French citizens evade taxes by agreeing to pay €835 million in fines and damages, less than a fifth of the original penalty.

• The Swiss bank said Tuesday, September 22, that it would pay a fine of €730 million and €105 million in civil damages to the French State to settle the case, which relates to activities between 2004 and 2012.
• That compares with the €4.5 billion penalty originally handed down in 2019, then the largest-ever fine in a criminal case.
• UBS had been found guilty of covertly and unlawfully dispatching bankers in France to encourage prospective clients to move money across the border to escape taxation, echoing previous activities in the US and elsewhere.
• The bank is addressing a range of legal issues, including those inherited from the 2023 takeover of Credit Suisse. It said it is entirely provisioned for the fine.
• The legal saga has rumbled on for more than a decade, with UBS fighting on to cut the larger penalty. UBS had been pushing to settle the investigation for less than € 300 million, which is what it paid to resolve a similar case in Germany.

Other cases

• In a parallel case, the bank’s previous French unit was found guilty in March of harassing two whistle-blowers who lifted the lid on the bank’s efforts to help wealthy locals dodge taxes.
• In August, UBS agreed to pay $300 million to settle a Credit Suisse-related case over mortgage-backed securities with the US Department of Justice, having paid $1.44 billion to settle its own long-running case over the same matter in 2023.

UBS Group AG has agreed to pay €835 million

Key Details of the Settlement:

• Total Payment: €835 million, comprising:
• €730 million in fines
• €105 million in civil damages to the French state
• Original Penalty (2019): €4.5 billion — the largest-ever criminal fine in France at the time.
• Period of Offence: Activities occurred between 2004 and 2012.
• Nature of Offence: UBS was found guilty of:
• Unlawful client solicitation
• Aggravated money laundering
• Dispatching bankers to France to covertly recruit clients and encourage them to move assets to Switzerland to avoid taxation.

Legal Journey:

• UBS initially denied wrongdoing and appealed the 2019 conviction.
• In 2023, France’s Supreme Court upheld the guilty verdict but ordered a reassessment of the financial penalties.
• The final settlement is less than one-fifth of the original penalty, reflecting UBS’s persistent legal efforts over more than a decade.

Additional Context:

• UBS is also dealing with other legal matters, including those inherited from its 2023 acquisition of Credit Suisse.
• In a related case, UBS’s former French unit was found guilty of harassing whistle-blowers who exposed the tax evasion scheme.

References

[1] UBS Ends French Tax-Dodge Saga With $985 Million Settlement https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/ubs-ends-french-tax-dodge-saga-with-%24985-million-settlement/90052402

[2] UBS to Pay Nearly $1 Billion to Settle Long-running French Tax Case ...www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202509232158/ubs-to-pay-nearly-1-billion-to-settle-longrunning-french-tax-case-update

[3] UBS Settles Long-Running French Tax Case for $985 Million https://ground.news/article/ubs-settles-long-running-french-tax-case-for-985-million