The Swiss-based company has confirmed that it will help US taxpayers hide billions of offshores and violate the 2014 plea deal.
Credit Suisse Services AG pleaded guilty to conspire with US taxpayers to hide more than $4 billion in offshore accounts and agreed to pay more than $510 million in penalties, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on May 5.
Swiss has also admitted to breaching the previous 2014 judiciary agreement and has concluded a separate non-dose agreement over related conduct in Singapore.
The plea comes from a multi-year survey on Credit Switzerland’s role in supporting ultra-high net US clients in hiding assets from the IRS, the DOJ’s announcement said.
According to court documents, between 2010 and July 2021, Credit Suisse AG and its employees worked with US customers and other customers to maintain undeclared offshore accounts, forge records and process fictitious documents.
“Among other misconduct, Credit Suisse bankers have forged records, processed fictitious donations and served more than $1 billion in accounts without documenting tax compliance,” the DOJ said in the announcement.
The action not only allowed clients to avoid submitting necessary foreign bank and financial accounts (FBAR) reports, but also violated the terms of the Credit Suisse plea bargain in May 2014. That prior agreement required banks to avoid further criminal conduct.
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In addition to the plea, Credit Suisse Services AG has signed a nonprojection agreement with DOJ’s tax department and the US attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia for the Credit Suisse AG Singapore heritage account.
The firm maintained an account with more than $2 billion in assets for US assets between 2014 and June 2023, and did not properly identify account owners or investigate US relations.
UBS, which acquired Credit Suisse in 2023, discovered potentially undeclared accounts during the merger’s merger and voluntarily disclosed their findings to US authorities. Some accounts have been frozen and UBS has begun an internal investigation.
In a statement after reaching agreement this week, UBS said it was “not involved in any fundamental conduct and has zero tolerance for tax evasion.”
“With this resolution, UBS is pleased to have resolved the issue of another credit Swiss heritage in the best interests of all stakeholders, in line with UBS’s intention to resolve legacy issues in a fair and balanced way,” UBS added in the statement.
Under the terms of the agreement, Credit Suisse Services AG must cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation and disclose future findings related to US-related accounts.
In total, Credit Suisse Services AG pays $510,608,909 in fines, compensation, forfeiture and fines.
Of that, $371.9 million has been linked to guilty pleas, but $138.7 million has been generated from non-intake agreements related to conduct in Singapore.
