A spokesman for UBS Group AG said he was “appalled” that witnesses described the bank as a mafia-like organization as the French subsidiary was accused in Paris of harassing its former staff who reported whistleblowers.
“I don’t work in a mafia-style company,” Régis Turrini, currently president of UBS Europe’s French arm, said in preliminary remarks on the stand Wednesday. “You can’t just make accusations.”
Turrini spoke on behalf of the bank on the second day of a criminal trial examining allegations of harassment more than a decade ago when former employees rejected UBS’s efforts to help wealthy French people avoid paying taxes. Turrini was not 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 reducing the bonus of former auditor Nicolas Forissier and is further suspected of punishing Stéphanie Gibaud, who was in charge of organizing events for wealthy clients. The remarks Turrini referred to were made on Tuesday by witnesses called by Forissier to testify.
The legal saga in France has been going on for more than 15 years. It culminated in a money laundering conviction for a Swiss bank as part of a separate prosecution effort stemming in part from the Forissier report. That case is not entirely over after France’s Supreme Court said last year that UBS had been fined 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion). should be reconsideredopening the door to a possible cut.
On Wednesday, Turrini tried to keep the courtroom hearing focused on the harassment allegations and not on a parallel case – where UBS France is also being convicted for its role in helping Swiss bankers illegally recruit wealthy French prospects. But the presiding judge insisted on connecting the two – twice asking him if Forissier’s efforts contributed to the conviction.
“I don’t know the file that led to the verdict,” said a UBS representative. “I’m focused on the harassment case.”
Forissier’s lawyer, William Bourdon, later asked Turrini if ​​he thought his client was right to blow the whistle.
“MR. Forissier did what he thought he had to do with a clear conscience. I don’t know if it did the bank any favors,” said Turrini. “I suppose if I were an auditor I would carry out my tasks to the best of my ability, and that is certainly what Mr. Forissier did.”
Finally, Bourdon asked if Turrini could say something about Forissier, given the ordeal this affair had been for him.
“I don’t think Nicolas Forissier is the victim in this case,” the bank representative replied. Turrini said he saw no indication of harassment in the evidence presented against the French subsidiary and also denied another allegation that UBS France tried to silence Forissier.
The trial should last until the middle of next week, and the verdict is expected a few months later.
(Updates with further statements from UBS representatives beginning in the sixth paragraph)
