<p class="MsoNormal">A two-year investigation by the
US Senate Finance Committee found that embattled Swiss bank Credit Suisse has
breached a 2014 plea deal agreed with the US Department of Justice (DOJ). Lawmakers
on Wednesday said the bank helped ultra-wealthy American clients to avoid taxes
by hiding over $700 million in undeclared accounts. </p><p class="MsoNormal">US Committee Reports Deal Breach</p><p class="MsoNormal">The Committee also found that
about $100 million belonging to a single family of US-Latin American citizens
was hidden in secret offshore accounts for nearly a decade without being
disclosed to US tax authorities. It described this as an “ongoing potentially
criminal conspiracy.” In addition, the Committee believes the bank helped a US
businessman to conceal over $220 million in offshore accounts from the US
Internal Revenue Service, Reuters reports. </p><p class="MsoNormal">In 2014, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/credit-suisse/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Credit Suisse</a> paid a
discounted fine to the DOJ after pleading guilty to aiding clients’ tax evasion
and agreeing to report undeclared accounts and other information to US
authorities. However, the Committee said Credit Suisse only informed it days ago
of 23 accounts containing over $20 million not decelerated for taxation.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Responding to the development,
Credit Suisse told Reuters it does not accommodate tax evasion and has been
cooperating with officials in the US. The Swiss bank also told the Associated Press
that the said evasion were long-standing issues that had been addressed long
ago. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Credit Suisse Faces New Headwind</p><p class="MsoNormal">Earlier this month, rival bank <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/institutional-forex/ubsagreed-to-buy-troubled-rival-credit-suisse/" target="_blank" rel="follow">UBS agreed to purchase Credit Suisse</a>, whose financial woes <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/institutional-forex/credit-suisse-shares-hit-record-low-once-again-and-spark-new-bank-selloff/" target="_blank" rel="follow">worsened recently</a> over <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/bank-failures-leave-us-crypto-businesses-in-the-cold/" target="_blank" rel="follow">US bank failure</a>s, for CHF 3 billion in a deal
expected to be closed by the end of 2023. The US Senate Finance Committee
report emerged on the same day UBS announced it was <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/executives/ex-ubs-ceo-is-back-after-2-years-to-lead-the-credit-suisse-takeover/" target="_blank" rel="follow">recalling Sergio P. Ermotti</a>, its former CEO, to oversee the complex acquisition
of Credit Suisse, the second-largest Swiss lender.</p><p class="MsoNormal">It remains unclear if the new US
Comittee report will have an effect on USB acquisition procedures. The new US
report is Credit Suisse’s latest baggage with US authorities after it <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/institutional-forex/credit-suisse-to-pay-495m-settlement-related-to-2008-financial-crisis/4" target="_blank" rel="follow">paid $495 million</a> in October last year to settle issues with its mortgage-backed
securities business operated in the build-up to the 2008 financial crisis.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The bank recently <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/institutional-forex/credit-suisse-aml-lawsuit-will-determine-future-of-swiss-banking-rules/" target="_blank" rel="follow">faced criminal trials</a> in Switzerland for allegedly allowing a Bulgarian drug trafficker to launder illicitly gained money. The bank <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/institutional-forex/money-laundering-case-involving-credit-suisse-finds-the-bank-guilty/" target="_blank" rel="follow">was found guilty</a> in the case, which was the first criminal trial of a Swiss bank. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The merger of UBS and Credit
Suisse is expected to create a Swiss megabank with over $5 trillion in total
invested assets.</p><p class="MsoNormal">OpenFin Adds Dow Jones; Quantile Taps SwapAgent FX, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/news-nuggets-29-march-openfin-adds-dow-jones-quantile-taps-swapagent-fx/" target="_blank" rel="follow">read today's news nuggets</a>.</p>
This article was written by Solomon Oladipupo at www.financemagnates.com.
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