Sergio Ermotti, CEO of UBS gestures during a panel discussion at the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce in Zurich, Switzerland January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd WIegmann/File Photo

ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS Group expects its appeal of a French court verdict ordering the Swiss bank to pay 4.5 billion euros ($5.10 billion) for aiding tax evasion to last years, Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti told staff in a memo.

“The case will now be transferred to the Court of Appeals which will hear the trial again in full. This process is expected to take several years,” he said in the memo seen by Reuters and confirmed by a bank spokeswoman.

“The superficial nature of the verdict is astounding and does not even pretend to address the arguments we presented during the five weeks of the trial. This will need to be covered by the appeals court,” he said.