The Swiss bank’s settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Justice Department, and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was announced just moments before Switzerland’s financial regulator rebuked it for its long-running corporate espionage scandal.
The UK and US charges stem from almost $1 billion in bond offerings as well as a syndicated loan that Credit Suisse helped to arrange between 2013 and 2016 which financed a Mozambican tuna fishing industry project. A significant percentage of the proceeds from the project were channelled back to a group of 8 Credit Suisse bankers and Mozambique officials, who were charged in 2018 for money laundering and defrauding US investors. Prosecutors in the US said that at least $200 million of the loans had been diverted to the group of 8 bankers and officials. In 2019, the former Credit Suisse bankers pleaded guilty.
On Tuesday, the authorities claimed that through the actions of its bankers, Credit Suisse had fraudulently misled its investors and violated US bribery laws. Credit Suisse is now set to pay a criminal fine of $175 million to the Justice Department, $99 million to the SEC, and $200 million to the UK authorities. The bank will also excuse a debt of $200 million owed by Mozambique.
