PARIS: Swiss bank UBS will stand trial in France accused of helping clients evade French taxes.
The bank confirmed in an emailed statement to various media outlets on March 20 that French judges have made an order for the case to be sent to court. The referral comes more than a year after investigating judges completed their probe into the allegations in February 2016.
The bank said that it “disagrees with the allegations, assumptions, and legal interpretations being made,” and that it will continue to “strongly” defend itself against the claims.
Earlier this year, the bank failed in its attempt to overturn the French authorities’ demand that it put up a EUR1.1bn bond until the case was decided, with the European Court of Human Rights concluding that the security constituted an interim measure which did not prejudge the outcome of the proceedings.
UBS (France) S.A. and UBS AG were put under formal examination (mise en examen) in 2013 for complicity in having illicitly solicited clients on French territory and was declared witness with legal assistance (témoin assisté) regarding the laundering of proceeds of tax fraud and of banking and financial solicitation by unauthorized persons.
It is understood that the bank has been negotiating to settle the dispute out of court, for a sum much less than the EUR1.1bn fine that the French authorities’ are thought to be demanding.
