FILE: Credit Suisse says it is working with U.S. authorities over an investigation into cross-border banking services
Record ID:
722527
FILE: Credit Suisse says it is working with U.S. authorities over an investigation into cross-border banking services
- Title: FILE: Credit Suisse says it is working with U.S. authorities over an investigation into cross-border banking services
- Date: 16th July 2011
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (FILE - DECEMBER 4, 2008) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) GENEVA LAKE WITH ITS WATERFALL GENEVA STREETS/CREDIT SUISSE BUILDING CREDIT SUISSE SIGN EXTERIOR OF A CREDIT SUISSE BANK PERSON AT A CREDIT SUISSE CASHPOINT PEOPLE AT A CREDIT SUISSE CASHPOINT SWISS FLAG/EXTERIOR OF THE CREDIT SUISSE BANK CREDIT SUISSE NAME ON BUILDING LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - DECEMBER 4, 2008) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) FOUNTAIN NEAR CREDIT SUISSE BUILDING IN CANARY WHARF VARIOUS OF CREDIT SUISSE BUILDING AND ENTRANCE
- Embargoed: 31st July 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Switzerland, United Kingdom
- City:
- Country: United Kingdom Switzerland
- Topics: Crime,Business,Finance
- Reuters ID: LVA36TQMQ2SXAN3XV7MO12HBLT0B
- Story Text: Swiss bank Credit Suisse is being probed by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a broader investigation into banks suspected of helping Americans evade taxes.
Credit Suisse said on Friday (July 15) it had received a letter saying it was a target of a DoJ investigation concerning "historical private banking services provided on a cross-border basis to U.S. persons".
In a major blow to banking secrecy that helped Switzerland build up a multi-trillion-dollar offshore banking industry, Credit Suisse's local rival UBS paid a $780 million fine in 2009 and agreed to hand over information about nearly 5,000 secret accounts held by U.S. citizens to settle U.S. charges it aided tax evasion.
When four current and former Credit Suisse bankers were charged in February with helping Americans dodge taxes, the bank said it was not a subject of the investigation and was cooperating.
"Subject to our Swiss legal obligations, we will continue to cooperate with the U.S. authorities in an effort to resolve these matters," Credit Suisse said on Friday.
Offshore tax havens have come under attack in recent years as cash-strapped governments seek to boost revenues in the wake of the financial crisis, forcing countries like Switzerland to pledge to cooperate more to help hunt tax cheats.
A report from the Boston Consulting Group said wealthy U.S. individuals had pulled most of their money from Swiss private banks since 2006, in the wake of the crackdown.
Since settling with UBS, the DoJ has been conducting a broad investigation into a number of Swiss banks, bankers, and intermediaries to see if they have helped clients dodge taxes.
Companies involved in that probe include Credit Suisse, the second-largest bank in Switzerland; HSBC, Europe's largest bank; Julius Baer, a private bank based in Zurich; and Basler Kantonalbank, a Swiss cantonal bank.
Credit Suisse, which shut its U.S. offshore business in 2008/09, has always said it had tighter controls in place than UBS.
Switzerland and the United States have been in talks to try to reach a multibillion-dollar deal to get that investigation dropped in return for banks paying a fine, exiting undeclared offshore banking businesses for Americans, and turning over client names to the Internal Revenue Service.
Those talks have become bogged down due to Swiss insistence any deal leave Swiss bankers free from prosecution in the United States, sources said last month. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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