Justice accuses UBS of having illegally sent its sales representatives to France to "hunt" wealthy clients of its subsidiary, during receptions, sports tournaments or concerts with the aim of convincing them to open undeclared accounts in Switzerland.

The facts date back to between 2004 and 2012. According to the prosecution, the bank had set up parallel, manual accounting to hide these cross-border capital movements: the "milk books". The bank maintains that it was a simple tool for evaluating "charges d'affaires", and considers that no canvassing act has been established.
In 2019, the judges, considering the case as overwhelming, had been particularly severe with the bank of Geneva sentenced to a record fine. Thus, two years after its conviction in France for money laundering and tax evasion, the Swiss bank hopes to succeed in lowering the amount of its record fine.
The defense lawyers will therefore have to demonstrate that, "lack of evidence" in the investigation file, the sentence imposed does not hold legally. This new reading could allow UBS to hope to see its fine reduced on appeal.