UBS Settles French Tax Evasion Case for €835 Million After Years of Legal Appeals
Swiss bank accepts reduced penalty following Supreme Court’s directive to reassess financial sanctions in long-running cross-border tax case
UBS has agreed to pay €835 million to resolve a long-standing French case in which it was found guilty of assisting wealthy clients to evade taxes between 2004 and 2012.
The settlement consists of a €730 million fine alongside €105 million in civil damages to the French state.
The figure is sharply reduced from the €4.5 billion penalty initially handed down in 2019 after years of judicial review.
The case centred on allegations that UBS bankers used secretive techniques — including self-erasing hard drives, discreet client solicitations at luxury events, and unbranded business cards — to recruit French clients who wished to hide their assets in Switzerland.
The French Supreme Court confirmed in 2023 the bank’s guilt for unlawful client solicitation and aggravated money laundering but ordered that the financial penalties and damages be re-evaluated.
After those mandates, the penalty had already been reduced by a Paris appeals court to approximately €1.8 billion.
But with the new final settlement, UBS will pay the lower sum while stating that it has made full provisions to cover the amount.
The bank emphasised that resolving this legacy legal matter is consistent with its goal to settle past disputes in the interests of all stakeholders.
The resolution marks a closing chapter to one of Europe’s most high-profile financial legal battles over cross-border tax evasion.
It follows a trajectory through criminal and civil courts, a series of appeals, and scrutiny of banking practices that traverse tax law, financial regulation, and international cooperation against money laundering.
The settlement consists of a €730 million fine alongside €105 million in civil damages to the French state.
The figure is sharply reduced from the €4.5 billion penalty initially handed down in 2019 after years of judicial review.
The case centred on allegations that UBS bankers used secretive techniques — including self-erasing hard drives, discreet client solicitations at luxury events, and unbranded business cards — to recruit French clients who wished to hide their assets in Switzerland.
The French Supreme Court confirmed in 2023 the bank’s guilt for unlawful client solicitation and aggravated money laundering but ordered that the financial penalties and damages be re-evaluated.
After those mandates, the penalty had already been reduced by a Paris appeals court to approximately €1.8 billion.
But with the new final settlement, UBS will pay the lower sum while stating that it has made full provisions to cover the amount.
The bank emphasised that resolving this legacy legal matter is consistent with its goal to settle past disputes in the interests of all stakeholders.
The resolution marks a closing chapter to one of Europe’s most high-profile financial legal battles over cross-border tax evasion.
It follows a trajectory through criminal and civil courts, a series of appeals, and scrutiny of banking practices that traverse tax law, financial regulation, and international cooperation against money laundering.
