It is a major international survey. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a consortium of 47 media including The world, The Guardianthe Miami Heraldthe Nationreveals that the Credit Suisse banking group has hosted tens of billions of euros in funds of criminal or illicit origin for several decades.
The investigation, entitled “Swiss Secrets” and broadcast this Sunday, was carried out following a major data leak submitted anonymously a little over a year ago to the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung. These data concern more than 18,000 bank accounts hosted at Credit Suisse between the beginning of the 1940s and the end of the 2010s and belonging to 37,000 people or companies, specifies The world.
“Based on a massive leak of information from thousands of bank accounts administered by Credit Suisse, (the investigation) shows that in defiance of the rules of vigilance imposed on large international banks, the establishment, born in Zurich, harbored funds linked to crime and corruption for several decades,” the newspaper writes.
Credit Suisse ‘strongly denies’ accusations
In a statement, Credit Suisse reacted to these accusations, saying that the data studied is “partial, inaccurate, or is taken out of context, resulting in a biased presentation of the conduct of business” by the bank. “90% of the accounts concerned are now closed, including more than 60% before 2015”, assures the bank, which also specifies “conducting the investigation” concerning the data leak.
In total, more than 100 billion Swiss francs (more than 95 billion euros) are involved in the accounts studied by the consortium. The leaks are mainly focused on developing countries: in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and South America and customers domiciled in Western Europe represent only 1% of the total, specifies Le Monde.
Credit Suisse, the number two in the Swiss banking sector, has been rocked by a series of scandals over the past year. In March, the bank was shattered by the bankruptcy of the financial company Greensill, in which some $10 billion had been committed through four funds, then by the implosion of the American fund Archegos which cost some $5 billion. dollars in the bank.