UBS Ordered to Release French Account Holder Details
Switzerland’s Federal Tax Administration has ordered UBS to provide account information to French authorities. The order concerns UBS account numbers pertaining to current and former France-based clients based on data from 2006 and 2008, the bank said in a statement July 5. The request from France is related to information received from German authorities, who seized data as part of their own tax investigations.
French prosecutors want UBS to face a criminal trial over allegations it helped clients evade taxes following a tax probe that resulted in the bank posting 1.1 billion euro in bail to cover a potential penalty last month.
In 2009, UBS paid $780 million to the U.S. To avoid prosecution after admitting it helped thousands of Americans evade taxes. The bank also agreed to turn over information on their accounts.
The bank is expecting similar requests to the Swiss Federal Tax Administration’s to come from other countries.