Switzerland's second-largest bank, Credit Suisse, accused by Washington of helping US clients hide billions from the taxman, acknowledged today there had been "misconduct" by some of its employees but said management was unaware.
"Credit Suisse acknowledges that misconduct, centred on a small group of Swiss-based private bankers, previously occurred at our bank," it said in a statement submitted to the US Senate, insisting that the bank management had no knowledge of the misdeeds at the time.
The document, obtained by AFP, included the statement Credit Suisse chief Brady Dougan was set to give before a US Senate panel later today. Yesterday, a scathing Senate inquiry showed his bank had used elaborate measures to help some 19,000 wealthy US clients evade taxes.
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"We deeply regret that, despite the industry-leading compliance measure we have put in place, before 2009, some Credit Suisse private bankers appear to have violated US law," the statement said, citing a "broad and deep" independent investigation commissioned by the bank.
The internal probe "found no evidence that Credit Suisse's executive management was aware of these problems," it said. However it added that "we accept responsibility for and deeply regret these employees' actions".
The US Senate report, based on a two-year investigation, maintained yesterday that Credit Suisse had "nearly 19,000 US customers with hidden Swiss assets totalling nearly USD 5 billion" as of 2006.
That figure represents some 85 per cent of the bank's more than 22,000 US customers in 2006 with Swiss accounts whose assets at their highest exceeded USD 13.5 billion, the report said.
That amount is more than "twice as much as what was said so far," Douglas Hornung, a Swiss business lawyer specialised on the banking sector, told AFP.
He speculated that Credit Suisse could face a US fine of around USD 2.0 billion for its misdeeds.
Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate subcommittee that led the investigation, certainly took a combative tone Monday.
"It's time to ramp up the collection of taxes due from tax evaders on the billions of dollars hidden offshore," he told the hearing.
