Credit Suisse Services (UBS) to pay USD 511 million in exchange for the dismissal of US tax fraud charges

Swiss bank Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $511 million to U.S. authorities in exchange for dropping tax fraud charges, UBS and the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

The settlement relates to the fraudulent management of offshore accounts in Singapore belonging to wealthy American clients seeking to evade US taxes between 2010 and 2021, the Justice Department said in a statement. Credit Suisse was acquired in 2023 by its competitor and compatriot UBS under pressure from Swiss authorities to avoid bankruptcy .

Credit Suisse Services AG "pleaded guilty and was sentenced today for participating in the concealment of more than $4 billion from the U.S. IRS in at least 475 offshore accounts," including through falsified documents and fictitious donation declarations, the Justice Department added. In doing so, the bank violated a previous agreement reached in 2014 with U.S. authorities, according to the same source.

UBS, for its part, announced this agreement, under which Credit Suisse pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $511 million, assuring in a statement that it "was not involved in this behavior and has zero tolerance for tax evasion." Credit Suisse had committed to changing its practices after agreeing in 2014 to pay a $2.6 billion fine to end tax fraud prosecutions in the United States.