The Swiss bank was the subject of a investigation for illegal canvassing of clients and aggravated laundering of tax evasion between 2005 and 2012.
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The second Swiss bank is paying a large sum to protect itself from a court conviction. Swiss credit agreed to pay 238 million euros in France to avoid criminal prosecution for illegal canvassing of customers and aggravated laundering of tax evasion between 2005 and 2012, according to an agreement validated Monday, October 24 by the president of the Paris court.
By agreeing to sign this legal agreement in the public interest, concluded with the national financial prosecutor’s office, Credit Suisse settles its dispute with the French tax authorities, to which it will pay 115 million euros in damages, and with the public prosecutor , paying a fine of 123 million euros.
The investigation by the financial prosecutor’s office began in 2016 after receiving reports in the context of mutual financial assistance for laundering tax fraud and illegal direct banking. Investigations revealed that 5,000 French clients had had a Credit Suisse account for many years, which had not been declared to the French tax authorities. The hidden assets amounted to two billion euros, recalled the president of the court.
The bank has 12 months to pay these sums, in three instalments. “It’s a historical page, the vestige of an old era that the bank comes to settle”, insisted during the hearing the bank’s lawyer, Charles-Henri Boeringer. Credit Suisse, for its part, recalled that this legal agreement in the public interest did not include an admission of guilt and marked “an important step in proactive resolution” litigation.