New stains on Urs Rohner's "white vest": Credit Suisse was a repeat offender

Throughout his career at Credit Suisse, Urs Rohner always saw himself as part of the solution, never part of the problem. He personally had a "clean slate," the former Credit Suisse chairman said in 2014 after the tax deal with the US. The defunct bank paid $2.8 billion at the time. It had to plead guilty to tax evasion and commit to no longer tolerating tax evasion by its clients.

Rohner asserted at the time that he would not tolerate any further misconduct by the bank. Credit Suisse invested millions in external supervisors, partly under pressure from the Americans. All for nothing, as it emerged this week. The defunct major bank is a repeat offender. It committed new crimes after 2014 and violated its agreement with the US authorities. This is the result of a settlement that UBS concluded with the US Department of Justice and which was made public this week. UBS will pay $511 million for misconduct by Credit Suisse, which it acquired in 2023.

The charges involve falsified documents for foundations and concealed client relationships in offshore accounts in Switzerland and Singapore. Credit Suisse has pleaded guilty to helping its clients hide more than $4 billion from the U.S. tax authorities, even after the initial tax deal. The offenses continued until the end of Rohner's term in office in 2021—and in the case of Singapore, even longer. UBS discovered hidden bank accounts there after its acquisition of Credit Suisse in 2023 and reported them to the authorities.

Thus, until the end of his term, Rohner failed to prevent further scandals at Credit Suisse or, for example, eliminate perverse incentives created by excessive bonuses. After each billion-dollar accident, he spoke of regrettable individual cases and announced tough measures – until the next time. At Credit Suisse, it was always others who had to go; there was never any talk of his own resignation. He remained in office at Credit Suisse until the very end. To this day, he remains publicly silent about his time at the major bank.

The settlement between UBS and the US judicial authorities does not have any direct consequences for Rohner personally. However, the Department of Justice's statement explicitly states: "... the settlement does not provide protection for individuals." It is conceivable that the newly revealed allegations will be used for further civil lawsuits in the US against Rohner or other former CS executives. His oft-cited "clean slate" will hardly protect Rohner from this.