US suspects two largest Swiss banks of helping Russians circumvent sanctions
Pravda Ukraine
The US Department of Justice has stepped up its investigation into two of the largest Swiss banks, Credit Suisse Group and UBS Group AG, over suspected violations of the law that allowed Russian clients to evade sanctions.
Source: Bloomberg with reference to sources familiar with the situation
Quote: “What began as a series of subpoenas sent to a range of banks early this year has developed into a full-scale investigation.”
Details: However, the investigation is still at an early stage and may either not lead to charges at all or result in a settlement.
The main claims of the Department of Justice regarding the violation of the sanctions regime relate to the work of Credit Suisse. The UBS Group, which took over Credit Suisse in June, is now also under investigation.
The US Department of Justice has requested information on how the banks handled accounts of sanctioned clients over the past few years, but has not yet requested interviews with executives or staff, one of the sources said.
The investigation covers both the restrictions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and previous rounds of these restrictions imposed after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, another source said.
During this time, more than a thousand wealthy Russians have been blacklisted by the US.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Credit Suisse served wealthy Russians, managing more than US$60 billion in assets. By the time of the invasion in February 2022, this figure had fallen to US$33 billion.
At that time, UBS managed more than US$11 billion in assets for Russians.
Background: UBS Group AG is the largest Swiss financial holding company.
Credit Suisse was the second-largest Swiss financial conglomerate after UBS before the acquisition.
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