It was one of many financial scandals that Credit Suisse is embroiled in. It has just been resolved by a financial penalty of 238 million euros, which will directly feed the state coffers within a year, and will prevent the second Swiss bank from going through the trial box in France, for ” illegal canvassing of clients on French territory” and “laundering of aggravated tax evasion”, between 2005 and 2012.
On Monday, October 24, the Paris court approved a legal agreement in the public interest (CJIP) concluded three days earlier, on October 21, between the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) and the bank. The CJIP is this tool inspired by the American model of negotiated justice, introduced in France by the 2016 law known as “Sapin 2” – named after the former Socialist Minister of Economy and Finance, Michel Sapin. It allows the public prosecutor to propose to a legal entity, implicated for strictly defined facts (corruption, breaches of probity, influence peddling, tax evasion and laundering of tax evasion, environmental crimes), a transaction l exempt from criminal prosecution. And this, without the company concerned being forced to admit its guilt.
Under investigation by the PNF since April 2016, Credit Suisse was suspected of having helped wealthy French clients to hide money from the tax authorities, on the basis of reports made by two foreign judicial authorities. To settle its legal troubles, the group therefore agreed to settle 238 million euros for final settlement, ie 123 million in respect of a fine in the public interest and an additional 115 million in damages. Amounts calculated according to the rule set by law, backed by the amount of illicit profits made.
Restore a weakened image
The facts were overwhelming. According to the agreement unveiled on Monday, the PNF investigation had made it possible to identify “4,999 French customers (…) having an account with Credit Suisse, sometimes for more than ten years, representing hidden assets (…) two billion euros”. Salespeople belonging to a specially created office canvassed these customers ” discreetly “, during confidential visits to hotels or chic restaurants, offering them account numbers with or without codes, without any account statement or other document ever leaving Switzerland. Offshore structures, created through intermediaries (trust companies, specialized lawyers, etc.) to further obscure the arrangements, could be part of the package. These customers have all been rectified by the tax authorities since.
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