Credit Suisse Pleads Guilty, Will Pay U.S. $2.8 Billion

Swiss giant Credit Suisse has pled guilty to criminal wrongdoing in the Justice Department’s case alleging the foreign bank aided domestic clients in tax evasion schemes. In a conspiracy that lasted decades – in some cases, more than a century – Credit Suisse “actively helped its account holders to deceive the IRS by concealing assets and income in illegal, undeclared bank accounts,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a May 19 announcement. The bank has agreed to pay $2.8 million in fines and restitution to the IRS and other regulators. Since 2011, Holder said, DOJ has indicted eight employees at the bank, including some at the manager level. Two have so far pled guilty.  The resolution with the bank was coordinated with regulatory agencies – the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve,  the New York State Department of Financial Services, and the SEC – which imposed their own penalties. “A company’s profitability or market share can never and will never be used as a shield from prosecution or penalty,” Holder said.