Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse resolves U.S. tax evasion allegations, shelling out a significant sum in settlement.
Published on May 6th, 2025
Swiss Bank's Multi-Billion-Dollar Fine for Decade-Long Tax Evasion Conspiracy
After a grueling decade-long US probe into Credit Suisse Services' questionable tax practices, the banking colossus based in Zurich, a subsidiary of UBS, collectively admitted guilt yesterday, May 5th, for conspiring to hide over $4 billion from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for more than 475 offshore accounts.
Simultaneously, Credit Suisse has inked a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the Department of Justice's (DoJ) Tax Division and the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia to address allegations that their Singaporean subsidiary didn't properly disclose undeclared accounts held by American citizens totaling assets above $2 billion over nine years. As part of the deal, Credit Suisse is compelled to fully cooperate with ongoing US investigations and is subject to substantial financial penalties.
The DoJ estimates that Credit Suisse will forfeit $511 million in fines, penalties, and restitution.
THE GLOOMY PAST
Credit Suisse has been no stranger to trouble, facing a slew of investigations in recent years from Switzerland's Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) due to alleged finance market law violations, faulty compliance frameworks, and weak internal oversight. In 2021, the bank footed a substantial bill to regulators globally due to its role in the infamous Tuna Bonds debacle.
Article 47 of the Swiss Banking Act, a highly divisive provision criminalizing the disclosure of banking activities in Switzerland, has only stoked the controversies surrounding the bank. In February 2022, an international exposé on Credit Suisse dubbed 'Suisse Secrets' shattered the bank's veil of secrecy, uncovering significant due diligence oversights and revealing that it had presided over billions of dollars in assets for autocrats, war criminals, oligarchs, and drug lords.
ADMISSION OF FAILURES
In a press release, UBS, which absorbed the faltering Credit Suisse in 2023, stated that it "was oblivious to the underlying misconduct and harbors a zero-tolerance policy towards tax evasion." However, it was "elated to have cleared another legacy issue" related to Credit Suisse.
The guilty plea and NPA saw Credit Suisse confessing to a series of actions designed to help American residents dodge their US tax obligations by camouflaging their control over funds and assets housed within the bank. This elaborate scheme involved establishing and maintaining undeclared offshore accounts for American taxpayers, providing various offshore private banking services to help clients conceal both their assets and income from the IRS, and ignoring these customers' failure to submit Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs).
The DoJ detailed that Credit Suisse bankers would manipulate records, manage over $1 billion for accounts lacking the necessary tax compliance documentation, and present forged charitable donation paperwork.
SINGAPOREAN SUBSIDIARY
The DoJ's announcement also unveiled that Credit Suisse Singapore's subsidiary fell short in performing adequate checks on indicators of US connections and failed to identify the true owners of many accounts between 2014 and 2024. Following the merger of UBS Singapore and Credit Suisse Singapore, UBS discovered that numerous accounts at the latter were undeclared by American citizens, and consequently froze some of the accounts, voluntarily reported its findings to the DoJ, and performed an investigation.
PROSECUTION
Nanette Davis, Mark Daly, Marissa Brodney, and Kimberly Shartar from the DoJ's senior litigation team, alongside the tax division trial attorney and eastern district of Virginia assistant US attorney, are leading the prosecution of the case.
- Yesterday, Credit Suisse, a Swiss banking giant, admitted to a decade-long tax evasion conspiracy worth billions of dollars, resulting in a hefty fine of $511 million from the Department of Justice.
- The banking conglomerate, which has a history of entanglements in general-news matters such as finance market law violations and the Tuna Bonds debacle, has been exposed for its questionable practices and lax controls, as revealed in the 'Suisse Secrets' investigation.
- The business dealings of Credit Suisse have been under scrutiny for their involvement in crime-and-justice issues, including helping American residents evade their tax obligations through elaborate offshore account schemes.
- The Singaporean subsidiary of Credit Suisse is also implicated in the ongoing controversy, failing to properly disclose undeclared accounts held by American citizens and ignoring the failure to submit necessary tax compliance documents.
