No more pussyfooting for UBS: the banking giant has taken to fighting tooth and nail against lawsuits – is the new strategy paying off?
Crystal clear in tone and content: «The DOJ’s claims are not supported by the facts or the law,» said UBS in a statement on Thursday. «UBS will contest any such complaint vigorously in the interest of its shareholders.»
UBS has yet another legal battle to fight in the U.S., where the Department of Justice intends to file a civil complaint against the Zurich-based bank. The complaint likely will seek unspecified monetary penalties in relation to the issuance, underwriting and sale of so-called residential mortgage-backed securities. The transactions go back to 2006 and 2007.
French Pursuit
Standing up to the Department of Justice is news for a bank that has paid hundreds of millions of francs to the U.S. authorities in several instances. But the new approach is in tune with its strategy in several other cases around the world.
The most prominent is currently underway in Paris, where the French state pursues an alleged case of money-laundering which in case of a guilty verdict may lead to a fine of as much as 5 billion euros ($5.71 billion).
French attorneys also recently claimed 1.6 billion euros in a civil lawsuit from the bank, in addition to a possible fine.
«No Evidence»
The lawyers defending UBS have ridiculed the claims, a symbol for the strategy of hard balls defined by UBS General Counsel Markus Diethelm (pictured below) and his team of legal experts. They say that the French failed to provide the necessary evidence to proof the allegations.
Hong Kong Woes
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