In a landmark ruling that sent a clear message to other banks battling misconduct investigations in French courts, a Paris court on Wednesday found UBS guilty of having actively helped some of its wealthy French clients hide money from French tax authorities in undeclared Swiss bank accounts, and ordered the bank to pay a $5.1 billion fine. The fine represents a record sum in France, and isn't too far below the $6 billion maximum allotted by French law. Shares of the bank slumped 5% on the ruling. Regarding the penalty, which followed trials of UBS and its French subsidiary, trials where the bank was ultimately found ... (full story)