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ZURICH—Switzerland's tax authority has ordered UBS Group AG to hand over identifying information about current and former French clients, as the Swiss bank continues to grapple with scrutiny of its European customers

Zurich-based UBS said on Tuesday that it received the disclosure order from the Swiss Federal Tax Administration following an assistance request from French tax authorities.

The French authorities made their request based on information received from counterparts in Germany, who had seized client-related data from UBS during their own tax-related investigations, UBS said. The request is based on data from 2006 and 2008, the bank said.

UBS said it expects that an unspecified number of additional countries will make similar requests for client data, also based on information shared with them by the German authorities.

It wasn't immediately clear how many clients would be affected by the French request, or by similar requests made by other countries in the future.

UBS, like other Swiss banks, has made efforts in recent years to compel European clients to prove that they have declared the funds in accounts shielded by Swiss bank secrecy to tax authorities in their home countries, or to close the accounts. UBS said on Tuesday that many of the accounts tied to the French request for data have been closed.

The issue continues to haunt the banks. UBS has faced related legal issues in France, Germany, and Belgium, while its Swiss rival Credit Suisse Group AG has been the subject of scrutiny in Italy.

UBS and Credit Suisse have reported billions of dollars in asset outflows in recent years, as European clients declare their accounts to authorities in their home countries, and pay related taxes.

UBS said in its statement on Tuesday that it has expressed concerns to Swiss authorities that the French information request is based on data and a justification that "lack the required specificity."

The bank said it plans to have the request evaluated by a Swiss court.

Write to John Letzing at john.letzing@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 05, 2016 04:05 ET (08:05 GMT)

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