UBS tax evasion controversies

UBS Group AG building in St. Gallen. UBS maintains strict banking secrecy practices which have been used to facilitate tax evasion

The Swiss investment bank and financial services company, UBS Group AG, has been at the center of numerous tax evasion and avoidance investigations undertaken by U.S., French, German, Israeli, and Belgian tax authorities as a consequence of their strict banking secrecy practices.

The first major tax evasion controversy the bank was involved in occurred in 2007. Bradley Birkenfeld, an American banker stationed at UBS Switzerland AG, broke Swiss banking secrecy laws to disclose client information to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) alleging suspected tax evasion. After the DOJ opened an investigation, UBS was fined US$780 million and reached a limited deferred prosecution agreement that was seen as a historically significant event in the banking industry of Switzerland. Despite the brief lapse in banking secrecy, the country has strengthened its banking secrecy laws and UBS adopted an international "Client Privacy Code" to protect client information from disclosure.

Since the initial "Birkenfeld Disclosure", UBS has been at the center of various other tax evasion investigations undertaken by multiple international governments and tax authorities. It has been investigated by U.S. authorities since 2015, Belgian authorities since 2014, French authorities since 2013, German authorities since 2012 and Israeli authorities since 2011.