PARIS: French investigating magistrates have issued arrest warrants for three former Swiss managers at UBS in connection with their investigation into whether the bank helped tax dodgers, a judicial source told Reuters on Tuesday.
It was unclear if the managers worked in France or elsewhere for the Zurich-based bank.France has been investigating UBS since July on suspicion of helping its wealthy clients avoid tax from 2004 to 2012.
Last year a source close to the matter told Reuters investigating magistrates had put the potential value of the fine UBS should pay at 4.88 billion euros ($5.57 billion), basing their calculations on a total 12.2 billion euros they claimed was held by UBS on behalf of French individuals.
At the time, UBS said such calculations were “artificial, speculative and not based on facts”.
France’s Socialist government has taken a tough stance on tax evasion, stepping up efforts to crack down on citizens with Swiss bank accounts in an effort to bring to light tax cheats and bolster its tax intake.
UBS last year hiked its provisions against future litigation to 1.98 billion Swiss francs, warning that this still might not be enough to cover possible fines and charges it faced.
