France Puts UBS Under Investigation for Aiding Tax Evasion New York - A unit of the Swiss bank UBS has been placed under formal investigation in France following allegations that it designed investments to help its clients evade taxes. The move comes more than a year after an inquiry was opened regarding the bank's operations in France, a UBS executive briefed on the matter said Sunday. A handful of UBS executives have been put under investigation since the inquiry began in 2012. UBS has been dogged for years by regulators who allege that it has helped wealthy individuals dodge taxes, and has successfully settled some of these charges. For instance, the bank agreed to a $780 million fine in 2009 with the U.S. authorities to settle charges that it had helped its American clients to hide funds. But other countries continue to pursue their own cases against UBS. The executive, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said that while the decision was disappointing for the bank, it was not unexpected. Several media outlets reported news of the investigation into UBS in recent days. Tax evasion and avoidance is a hot topic right now as big companies like Apple find themselves denying allegations that they have avoided paying millions of dollars in taxes. The issue is particularly prickly in France, in part because the country's former budget minister, Jérôme Cahuzac, admitted to having stashed funds in an undeclared bank account in Switzerland. The inquiry in France comes as Switzerland puts pressure on its banks to disclose client information, a break from its long-held policy of bank secrecy. In an effort to resolve a continuing dispute with the U.S. authorities over tax evasion by Americans, the Swiss government proposed legislation last week that would provide a legal basis for its banks to cooperate with the U.S. authorities. Both houses of the Swiss Parliament will consider the legislation during the summer session; if passed, the law would be in effect for a year. Prosecutors in the United States have opened criminal investigations into about a dozen Swiss and Swiss-style banks involving offshore private banking services that allowed tens of thousands of wealthy Americans to evade U.S. taxes. The Swiss banks that have been the targets of U.S. investigations include Credit Suisse, which disclosed in July 2011 that it had received a letter saying it was under a grand jury investigation; the Zurich-based Julius Baer; two cantonal, or regional, banks; the Swiss operations of HSBC; and three Israeli banks, Bank Hapoalim, Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot and Bank Leumi. Julius Baer acknowledged last week that it had received a formal request from the U.S. authorities for data on American clients of the bank's offshore services. In 2012, the Justice Department indicted Wegelin & Co., Switzerland's oldest private bank. The bank pleaded guilty to the charges in January, putting it out of business. Lynnley Browning contributed reporting.