UBS fined in France for harassing whistleblowers

This is the first time in France that a whistleblower has obtained a conviction against his former employer, according to one of the lawyers involved in the case. Keystone / Ennio Leanza

The Swiss bank UBS was fined €75,000 (CHF71,410), the maximum penalty, in Paris on Monday for moral harassment by its French subsidiary of two whistleblowers, who had denounced the tax evasion system organised by the bank.

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UBS Europe, which absorbed the French branch, was also ordered to pay €50,000 in damages to Nicolas Forissier, the former head of internal auditing.

However, the bank was acquitted of witness tampering and obstructing the health, safety and working conditions committee.

According to Forissier’s lawyer, William Bourdon, this is the first time in France that a whistleblower has obtained a conviction against his former employer.

Although the amount of the fine “seems a little derisory […] we are happy and proud of this decision”, said Bourdon. “It is also a powerful message to the whistleblowers of tomorrow, who must see this decision as a deterrent”.

At the hearing, the public prosecutor had requested a maximum fine of €225,000 for the three offences.

The branch’s defence pleaded for acquittal, calling for the debate to be “dispassionate”.

In the main case, UBS France was definitively acquitted in 2021 for complicity in laundering tax fraud, but fined €1.875 million for complicity in illegal canvassing.

However, the case against the parent company, UBS AG, continues.

In 2019, it was fined a record €3.7 billion, plus €800 million in damages, for setting up a “system” to “facilitate” tax evasion by wealthy French taxpayers between 2004 and 2012.

On appeal in 2021, following a change in case law, the penalty was reduced to a total of €1.8 billion.

+ UBS secures partial victory in French tax evasion appeal

And in 2023, the Court of Cassation definitively confirmed the bank’s guilt, but cancelled the penalties and damages, ordering a new trial to re-examine them.

Translated from French with DeepL/gw

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