The chairman of UBS told investors it won't stop fighting a French criminal judgement against the Swiss bank. The move follows a highly unconventional vote of no confidence in its directors and top executives.

The Zurich-based bank's board and 13-person management under CEO Sergio Ermotti had to digest a scathing rebuke from shareholders on Thursday. More than 41 percent of investors voted to deny the bank's top tier approval for last year, as finews.com reported.

Chairman Axel Weber told shareholders he could understand that they wanted to keep all possible legal avenues open. He said UBS will keep fighting in France, where the Swiss bank is likely to spend at least two years in a complicated appeals process to a $5 billion fine handed down in February. 

«We will not waver from the chosen path,» Weber told shareholders. «Allow me again to make the personal remark from the point of view of the bank's present-day management that it had no responsibility in relation to this case at the time,» he said.

Failed Settlement Talks

The bank – and five ex-UBS bankers – were convicted on charges of money laundering and abetting tax evasion from 2004 to 2012. UBS and French prosecutors came close to finding a settlement, only for the deal to collapse at the last minute. During the nearly four-and-a-half-hour shareholder meeting, Weber said it wasn't possible for UBS to reach a settlement before heading to court.

«That's why we decided to defend the bank in court. We believe this was in the best interests of shareholders,» he said following the vote. «We will continue our dialogue with you as our shareholders,» Weber pledged.

UBS' private bank is now led by Martin Blessing and Tom  Naratil. The unit was led by Juerg Zeltner from 2008 until he was swept out in 2017. Raoul Weil led the unit from 2002 until 2008, when he was indicted in the U.S. (he was acquitted in a 2014 trial).