Frankfurt - Major Swiss bank UBS said on Tuesday in Zurich that it had earmarked $1.5bn for pending legal disputes, denting its third quarter profits.
Switzerland's biggest bank made a net profit of 762m, compared to 577m francs in the same period last year.
However, that was only made possible thanks to deferred tax amounting to 1.3bn francs. The final value of taxes that have yet to be paid was revised.
Without this one-off-effect, UBS made a pre-tax loss of 554m francs, down from a pre-tax profit of 356m francs in the third quarter of 2013.
French authorities have been investigating UBS for allegedly helping French clients evade taxes. The bank also faces investigations for alleged manipulation of foreign exchange markets.