Swiss banking giant UBS said Tuesday it had been ordered to hand over client information to the French tax authorities, amid allegations it orchestrated a vast system of tax fraud in France, reports RFI.
UBS said the Swiss federal tax administration (FTA) had demanded that it provide information about former and current clients living in France, based on data from 2006 to 2008, following a French request for international administrative assistance.
"Pursuant to the disclosure order, UBS is required to produce the requested information to the FTA," the bank said in a statement, adding though that it had "expressed its concerns to the FTA that the legal grounds for this request are ambiguous at best".
UBS said that it had taken measures to inform affected clients, but stressed that many of the accounts affected by the French request have been closed.
The bank said the French request was based on data received from the Germany authorities, who have previously conducted a range of tax probes involving Swiss banks.
"Certain data related to UBS clients booked in Switzerland was seized during these investigations and also apparently shared with other European countries," UBS said, adding that it "expects other countries to file similar requests."