UBS pays France 800 million euros in French tax case

ZURICH (Reuters) – UBS has paid the French state 800 million euros ($869.92 million) in civil damages in relation to a French tax evasion case, its annual report showed on Monday.

A Paris appeals court in December slashed the penalty UBS must pay for allegedly helping wealthy clients in France evade taxes to 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion), but upheld that the Swiss bank was guilty of both promoting illegal banking services and money laundering.

UBS filed an appeal with France’s Supreme Court against the decision, which ordered the confiscation of 1 billion euros and awarded the French state 800 million in civil damages.

“The civil damages award has been paid to the French state (99 million euros of which was deducted from the bail), subject to the result of UBS’s appeal,” the bank said on Monday.

UBS has set aside some 1.1. billion euros in legal provisions to settle the case, which it noted remained subject to a “wide range of possible outcomes”.

UBS could recoup its civil damages payment depending on the French Supreme Court’s ruling.

($1 = 0.9196 euros)

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)