Swiss banking giant UBS will pay €835 million ($985 million) to settle a long-running French legal case over helping wealthy clients dodge taxes, the group and French authorities said on Tuesday, September 23.
UBS will pay a €730 million fine and €105 million in damages to the French state to close the 14-year legal saga.
"UBS AG is pleased to announce it has resolved the legacy matter concerning its cross-border business activities in France between 2004 and 2012," the bank said in a statement.
The settlement is much lower than the €3.7-billion fine and €800 million in damages it had originally been ordered to pay in 2019. The total penalty was lowered to €1.8 billion on appeal in 2021.
The appeals court at the time found UBS guilty of concealing serious tax fraud and illegal banking activities in France between 2004 and 2012, when it was sending Swiss bankers to court well-heeled French clients.