France court orders UBS to pay $5.1 billion for Swiss accounts scandal

Paris court finds UBS guilty of helping wealthy French clients stash funds in undeclared Swiss accounts.

UBS Group AG was ordered to pay more than 4.5 billion euros ($5.1 billion) by a Paris court that found the bank guilty of helping wealthy French clients stash funds in undeclared Swiss accounts. 

The Paris criminal court ruled on Wednesday that UBS illegally provided French customers with banking services to hide assets from tax authorities. The judge fined UBS 3.7 billion euros and added another 800 million euros in compensation to the French government.

“The criminal wrongdoings were of an exceptionally serious nature,” said Presiding Judge Christine Mee. “These acts were committed behind the veil of opacity.”

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