Credit Suisse Has Violated U.S. Tax Evasion Deal, Senate Committee Finds

Credit Suisse violated a 2014 plea deal with U.S. authorities by continuing to help ultra-wealthy Americans evade taxes and concealing more than $700 million from the government, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee found on yesterday, Reuters reported. After concluding a two-year investigation into Credit Suisse - which this month agreed to a rescue takeover by rival UBS - the committee said it had uncovered "major violations" of the 2014 agreement between the Swiss lender and the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) for enabling tax evasion. New owner UBS or the Swiss government should assume responsibility for any future fines, the committee said, calling on the DoJ and the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether Credit Suisse should face more penalties. The violations found by the committee included failing to disclose nearly $100 million in secret offshore accounts belonging to a single family of dual U.S.-Latin American citizens, which it said represented an "ongoing and potentially criminal conspiracy." In an emailed statement, Credit Suisse said it did not tolerate tax evasion and had been cooperating with U.S. authorities. Read more.