UBS Stunned by Mafia Analogy at Whistleblower Pressure Trial

(Bloomberg) — A representative of UBS Group AG said he was “stunned” that witnesses referred to the bank as a mafia-like organization as the French branch stands accused in Paris of harassing its former whistleblowing staffer.

“I don’t work in a mafia-style company,” Régis Turrini, currently chairman of the French branch of UBS Europe, said in preliminary remarks at the stand on Wednesday. “You can’t just make accusations like that.”

Turrini was speaking on behalf of the bank on the second day of a criminal trial examining allegations of harassment more than a decade ago as former staffers lifted the lid on the UBS efforts to help wealthy French dodge taxes. Turrini wasn’t at the bank at the time of the allegations. UBS has denied any wrongdoing.

UBS France — as the unit was known during the investigation — is accused of sidelining and slashing the bonus of former auditor Nicolas Forissier and further suspected of penalizing Stéphanie Gibaud, who had been in charge of organizing events for wealthy clients. The remarks Turrini referred to were made on Tuesday by witnesses called to testify by Forissier.

The legal saga in France has been going on for more than 15 years. It culminated in a money laundering conviction for the Swiss bank as part of a separate prosecution effort that stemmed in part from the Forissier report. That case isn’t entirely finished after France’s top court said last year that a €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) penalty UBS had received should be reexamined, opening the door to a possible cut.

On Wednesday, Turrini tried to keep the courtroom debate focused on the harassment allegations, rather than the parallel case — where UBS France was also convicted for its role in helping Swiss bankers unlawfully recruit wealthy French prospects. But the presiding judge insisted on linking the two — twice asking him whether Forissier’s efforts contributed to the conviction.

“I don’t know the case file that led to the conviction,” the UBS representative said. “I’m focused on the harassment case.”

Forissier’s lawyer, William Bourdon, later asked Turrini whether he thought his client had been right to blow the whistle.

“Mr. Forissier did what he thought he had to in good conscience. I don’t know if that did the bank any favors,” Turrini said. “I imagine that if I’d been an auditor I would have carried out my assignments to the best of my ability, and that’s certainly what Mr. Forissier did.”

Finally, Bourdon asked whether Turrini might have a word for Forissier, given the ordeal the affair has been for him.

“I don’t think Nicolas Forissier is a victim in this case,” the bank representative replied. Turrini said he sees no suggestion of harassment in the evidence presented against the French branch and also denied a second allegation that UBS France tried to silence Forissier.

The trial is scheduled to last until the middle of next week, with a ruling expected several months later.

(Updates with further statements from UBS representative starting in sixth paragraph)

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