Credit Suisse violated tax evasion deal, says US Senate committee

The US Senate finance committee has concluded that Credit Suisse violated a 2014 plea deal with the government for the Swiss bank’s role in helping wealthy Americans evade tax.

The latest two-year investigation by the committee found the bank — which is being taken over by rival UBS — failed to disclose nearly $100mn in secret offshore accounts belonging to a single family of US taxpayers.

“At the centre of this investigation are greedy Swiss bankers and catnapping government regulators, and the result appears to be a massive, ongoing conspiracy to help ultra-wealthy US citizens to evade taxes and rip off their fellow Americans,” said senator Ron Wyden, who chaired the committee.

Under the 2014 deal struck with the Department of Justice, Credit Suisse was fined $2.6bn, but settled for $1.3bn after it agreed to comply with disclosure rules.

Credit Suisse said: “Credit Suisse does not tolerate tax evasion. In its core, the report describes legacy issues, some from a decade ago, and we have implemented extensive enhancements since then to root out individuals who seek to conceal assets from tax authorities.

It added: “Credit Suisse’s new leadership team has co-operated with the committee’s inquiry and has supported the work of senator Wyden, including in respect of suggested policy solutions to help strengthen the financial industry’s ability to detect undisclosed US persons. Our clear policy is to close undeclared accounts when identified, and to discipline any employee who fails to comply with bank policy or falls short of Credit Suisse’s standards of conduct.”