Credit Suisse has pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to pay $511 million in penalties for helping wealthy Americans hide more than $4 billion from the federal government.
The latest plea deal caps a years-long investigation by the Department of Justice and underscores what federal officials described as a “massive criminal tax evasion scheme.”
The new charges stem from revelations that Credit Suisse violated the terms of a 2014 plea agreement under which the bank had paid $2.6 billion — the largest criminal tax penalty in US history at the time — after admitting to aiding US clients in filing false tax returns and concealing assets in offshore accounts.
Despite that agreement, investigators found that the bank continued facilitating secret accounts and tax dodging well into the following decade.
“The misconduct at Credit Suisse went well beyond what was previously known,” the Senate Finance Committee said in a 2023 report.
The committee’s findings, based on a two-year probe, revealed that nearly $100 million in hidden funds was linked to just one ultra-wealthy American family.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who chairs the committee, was blunt in his criticism.
“Credit Suisse got a discount on the penalty it faced for enabling tax evasion because it promised to come clean, but it cheated,” Wyden said.
The renewed investigation was sparked by former Credit Suisse employees who had initially blown the whistle on the bank’s illegal practices.
They later reported that tax evasion persisted “well after the plea agreement and sentencing,” prompting federal prosecutors to reopen the case.
According to federal prosecutors, Credit Suisse bankers engaged in fraudulent practices including falsifying documents, fabricating donation records, and managing more than $1 billion in undeclared accounts without any evidence of tax compliance.
The Justice Department said some of these accounts were held in Singapore on behalf of US clients seeking to evade taxes—assets that totaled more than $2 billion between 2014 and 2023.
In an agreement reached on Monday, Credit Suisse Services will pay $372 million for preparing false income tax returns and nearly $139 million under a non-prosecution deal related to the Singapore-based accounts.
As part of the resolution, Credit Suisse and UBS — its new parent company — must cooperate fully with the DoJ’s ongoing investigations.
The deal does not grant immunity to individual bankers or executives.
UBS acquired Credit Suisse in 2023 during an emergency rescue after the Swiss bank faced a string of scandals and financial instability.
Following the merger, UBS discovered what appeared to be undeclared US accounts in Singapore and reported them to US authorities.
While UBS denied any involvement in the underlying misconduct, it acknowledged its responsibility as Credit Suisse’s legal successor.
“UBS was not involved in the underlying conduct and has zero tolerance for tax evasion,” the bank said in a statement.
It also pointed to its own $780 million settlement with US prosecutors in 2009 over similar charges as evidence of its experience in handling such matters.
Monday’s plea agreement effectively brings an end to one of the most egregious examples of foreign bank complicity in US tax evasion schemes.
But the case has reignited criticism about the accountability of global financial institutions that repeatedly violate the law.
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