Credit Suisse accused of hindering probe into Nazi accounts

CREDIT Suisse Group was accused by US lawmakers of impeding an investigation into its historical assistance to Nazis that had revealed a number of previously undisclosed accounts, almost a quarter century after the Swiss bank reached a settlement with victims of the Holocaust.

The allegations relate to an internal probe started by the bank after the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) informed the lender in 2020 that it had new information about Nazi-linked accounts. While Credit Suisse initially agreed to investigate, the bank established an unnecessarily rigid and narrow scope, refused to follow new leads and removed an independent ombudsperson overseeing it, according to a statement by the US Senate’s Budget Committee.

“When it comes to investigating Nazi matters, righteous justice demands that we must leave no stone unturned,” Senator Chuck Grassley said in the statement. “Credit Suisse has thus far failed to meet that standard.”

Reports resulting from that investigation, obtained via a subpoena, indicate that Credit Suisse seems to have maintained accounts for at least 99 individuals who were either senior Nazi officials in Germany or members of Nazi-affiliated groups in Argentina. A vast majority of those have not previously been disclosed. Some remained open until recently.

Credit Suisse, in a statement on its website, said the probe didn’t support key claims by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and that a report by the former ombudsperson contained “numerous factual errors, misleading and gratuitous statements and unsupported allegations that are based on an incomplete understanding of the facts.”

“The bank strongly rejects these misrepresentations,” Credit Suisse said. The bank is fully cooperating with an enquiry by the Budget Committee and has extended the mandate of forensic research firm AlixPartners.

SEE ALSO

140 billion yen sale marks first major bank’s AT1 bond offer since Credit Suisse wipeout

The probe identified 21 accounts from a list of notorious high-level Nazis provided by the SWC, including one that belonged to a Nazi commander who was sentenced at Nuremberg and another belonging to an SS commander who was convicted, according to the Budget Committee. The sentenced commander’s account remained open until 2002.

UBS Group last month took over Credit Suisse in an emergency rescue arranged by Swiss authorities after the smaller bank suffered massive deposit outflows during a crisis of confidence. UBS chairman Colm Kelleher has said that it will likely take months to close the deal and as much as four years to complete the integration. BLOOMBERG