American authorities have said they will lift the threat of criminal proceedings against eleven Swiss banks if they agree to reveal full details about their US offshore businesses, newspaper SonntagsZeitung reports.

"/> American authorities have said they will lift the threat of criminal proceedings against eleven Swiss banks if they agree to reveal full details about their US offshore businesses, newspaper SonntagsZeitung reports.

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CREDIT SUISSE

US offers Switzerland tax row deal: report

American authorities have said they will lift the threat of criminal proceedings against eleven Swiss banks if they agree to reveal full details about their US offshore businesses, newspaper SonntagsZeitung reports.

The United States is offering Switzerland an end to marathon tax evasion negotiations with the country’s banks in the form of a deal similar to the one it signed with UBS in 2009, the newspaper said.

Each of the 11 banks would be offered an individual deal in exchange for satisfying US requests for administrative assistance in tax evasion cases.

This would entail the banks paying a fine as well as providing Washington with extensive information about their US offshore business, including the names of the bankers involved in the operations. In exchange, the US would agree not to take criminal action against any individuals.

The deal would require the banks to hand over details of their correspondence with American clients.

These details would include: notes from telephone conversations and meetings; internal notes about US clients from the relevant business units; correspondence between banks and third parties, such as independent wealth managers; all documents dealing with the US business model and US funds transferred to third parties.

However, according to the newspaper, which cited an unnamed source, the names of American clients would remain anonymous.

The alleged agreement resembles a deal signed in 2009 by UBS to end a conflict with the American authorities after it was discovered that the Swiss bank had helped US clients to hide their assets from US tax authorities.  

At the time, the Swiss parliament was forced to approve a deal to allow UBS to reveal details of around 4,450 American clients and pay a $780 million fine (913 million francs at the time). A refusal to comply would likely have jeopardized the future of the country’s biggest bank.

Swiss banks will have little time to consider the ramifications of the deal since they will be required to make a decision by Tuesday, the newspaper said. If they give their consent, Credit Suisse, Basler Kantonalbank and HSBC Switzerland will have to hand over the relevant information before the end of the year.

The Sunday paper said the banks are expected to accept the deal since American authorities already have all the information they need to start criminal proceedings against them.

Neither the banks nor Swiss authorities contacted by SonntagsZeitung would confirm that a deal was imminent.

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CREDIT SUISSE

Probe unearths second spying case at Credit Suisse

An internal Credit Suisse probe confirmed Monday that a second executive had been spied on, following earlier revelations that the bank's former head of wealth management was tailed by private investigators.

Probe unearths second spying case at Credit Suisse
Photo: Depositphotos

But Switzerland's number two bank maintained that just one senior leader, who has since been forced out, was entirely to blame for both incidents and that rest of the top brass had not been aware of the activities. 

Releasing the investigation conducted by the Homburger law firm, Credit Suisse said that “it has been confirmed that Peter Goerke, who was a Member of the Executive Board at the time, was placed under observation by a third-party firm on behalf of Credit Suisse for a period of several days in February 2019.”

The probe was launched following media reports last week that spying at Credit Suisse ran deeper than one case.

The banking giant was shaken by the discovery last September that surveillance had been ordered on star banker and former wealth management chief Iqbal Khan.

READ: Credit Suisse boss resigns following spying scandal

Kahn was tailed after he jumped ship to competitor UBS, sparking fears he was preparing to poach employees and clients.

That revelation came after Khan confronted the private investigators tailing him, leading to a fight in the heart of Zurich. Khan pressed charges.

An initial investigation by Homburger blamed former chief operating officer Pierre-Olivier Bouee, who stepped down, but found no indication chief executive Tidjane Thiam was involved.

The probe results released Monday echoed those findings, concluding that Bouee “issued the mandate to have Peter Goerke put under observation.”

“As was the case with Iqbal Khan, this observation was carried out via an intermediary,” it said, stressing that Bouee “did not respond truthfully” during the initial investigation “when asked about any additional observations and did not disclose the observation of Peter Goerke.”

The new investigation also did not find indications that Thiam or others in the board or management “had any knowledge of the observation of Peter Goerke until media reported on it,” the statement said.

“The Board of Directors considers the observation of Peter Goerke to be unacceptable and completely inappropriate” it said, adding that it had issued an apology to Goerke.

It added that “safeguards” were already in place to avoid future similar misconduct. Switzerland's market watchdog FINMA meanwhile said last week that it was “appointing an independent auditor to investigate Credit Suisse in the context of observation activities.”

“This investigator will clarify the relevant corporate governance questions, particularly in relation to the observation activities,” a statement said Friday.

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