UBS is refusing to sit back and lick its wounds after being hit with financial penalties totaling €4.5 billion (CHF5.1 billion) in France. By appealing the decision, has it bitten off more than it can chew? Or can it claw back lost ground in the high stakes duel with French authorities? Round one of the tax evasion legal battle has clearly been won by French prosecutors. A Paris court on Wednesday found UBS guilty of systematically helping French citizens avoid paying taxes. It imposed a €3.7 billion fine plus €800,000 in compensation costs. UBS, however, insists that no clear-cut evidence was presented in court that proved the prosecution’s case. Swiss corporate legal expert Peter V. Kunz, a professor of law at the University of Bern, tends to agree. “It was a risky gamble. What UBS did not take into account was France,” he told swissinfo.ch. “I am quite convinced that had the same evidence been produced in a German court, the result would have been different.” Kunz believes ...
