The Swiss bank was fined a record 3.7 billion euros in 2019 for canvassing French taxpayers between 2004 and 2012 to shelter their wealth from the tax authorities in Switzerland.

On appeal, the company was sentenced to a total penalty of 1.8 billion euros: the parent company appealed, but not the French subsidiary for which the sentence is final.

During the two trials, one name was regularly cited: that of Nicolas Forissier.

Absent from the hearings, the former internal auditor published in May "The inner enemy" (Fayard), written with the journalist Raphaël Ruffier-Fossoul.

No "desire for revenge" but a "psychological rebalancing" and a desire to "restore the truth", also for the "honor" of his family, assures AFP this discreet 53-year-old man, fine beard and glasses rimless.

"I did not get up one morning saying to myself: I am going to become a whistleblower! But I am recognized for this status. Now, I do not derive any glory from it. Everything has been done to muzzle us", assures you. -he.

"Rule 40"

Nicolas Forissier was hired in 2001 at UBS.

At the time, "I enter the sacrosanct of private management. I know it's not all rosy, but I'm super proud," he says.

Over the course of his audits, he gradually discovers documents until he comes across the famous "milk notebooks";

parallel accounting to mask cross-border flows.

He decides to sound the alarm, first internally.

“I had no choice, by law,” as an auditor, he explains.

"When I have the facts, the evidence, which it will take me a long time to find, I don't dedicate myself. I go there, it's obvious".

This "son of a soldier and a teacher" who "devoted their whole life to the public service" compares his situation then to an "article 40" - the obligation for a civil servant to report an offense to the justice.

In 2009, Nicolas Forissier was fired for "serious misconduct".

The prudential supervisory authority will finally take legal action in 2011 after an anonymous letter from eleven employees, which he wrote.

"Without the press, there is no UBS affair," he also believes, citing in particular Antoine Peillon, author of the first survey on the subject.

"Powerful"

In his book, Nicolas Forissier recounts his relations at the time with the intelligence services, on the UBS affair but also concerning suspicious accounts that he closed for other reasons.

He also describes, after his alert, the "sleepless nights", two defamation lawsuits finally abandoned, the lawyers' fees which accumulate, anonymous threats.

With a heavy impact on his health, he who suffers from an autoimmune disease "highly reactive to stress".

However, "our society needs more whistleblowers. In my view, this is the greatest democratic issue of the moment: against corruption, fraud, environmental damage, the power of whistleblowers can be colossal," he wrote.

Asked by AFP, the lawyer for UBS France did not respond.

The Swiss bank UBS was fined a record 3.7 billion euros in 2019 for soliciting French taxpayers between 2004 and 2012 to shelter their wealth from the tax authorities in Switzerland Fabrice COFFRINI AFP/Archives

Co-founder of a collective called "MetaMorphosis", Mr. Forissier participated in the debates on the Sapin II law of 2016, creating a status of whistleblower, and welcomes the recent strengthening of the legislation.

"The key elements are anonymity, financial support and above all, the fact that you cannot be fired," he said, regretting however the law on "business secrecy".

Since 2010, he has been a controller in a financial institution whose name he prefers to keep silent.

A job he "owes only to a man who (him) held out his hand", a former employee of UBS.

In March, UBS France was sent back to court for moral harassment of him and another whistleblower, Stéphanie Gibaud, but also for obstructing the operation of the CHSCT and witness tampering.

The bank lodged an appeal in cassation.

For Nicolas Forissier, it is the "recognition of relentlessness" internally after his alert.

In 2012, his dismissal was canceled at the prud'hommes: the appeal must be examined at the end of all criminal proceedings.

© 2022 AFP