UBS was fined 3.7 billion euros in France for tax fraud

A court in Paris, France, ruled on the 20th that UBS illegally solicited customers and money laundering, was fined 3.7 billion euros, and compensated the French government for 800 million euros in tax losses and interest.

The French prosecutor accused UBS and its French subsidiary of illegally recruiting French affluent customers to open accounts in Switzerland from 2004 to 2011 to evade French government taxation, especially through offshore companies, trust funds and other channels. It also transferred funds that were not reported to the French tax authorities and set up a “Yin and Yang Book” to cover the flow of funds between France and Switzerland. In addition, UBS was also accused of “assisting customers to clean up the money that was not reported to the relevant French authorities”. According to estimates by the French National Financial Procuratorate, UBS helped French customers evade taxes, resulting in a tax loss of 10 billion euros in France.