A data leak from Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, revealed details of the accounts of more than 30,000 clients – some of them unpleasant — according to a German newspaper and other media on Sunday, pointing to apparent failures of due diligence in checks on many customers.
“Strongly rejecting the allegations and insinuations concerning the bank’s supposed business operations,” Credit Suisse stated in a statement.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper, said it acquired the data anonymously over a year ago through a secure digital mailbox. It stated that it was unclear whether the source was an individual or a group, and that no money or promises were made by the newspaper.
The newspaper said it analyzed the data alongside the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and dozens of media partners, including The New York Times and The Guardian, from the 1940s until well into the last decade.
According to the report, the bank has accepted customers who are “corrupt autocrats, accused war criminals, and people traffickers, drug dealers, and other crooks.”
The claims, according to Credit Suisse, are “mostly historical” and “are based on fragmentary, erroneous, or selective material taken out of context, leading in tendentious interpretations of the bank’s business activity.”
According to the bank, it reviewed a large number of accounts that could be linked to the claims, and around 90% of them “are presently closed or were in the process of closure prior to receipt of the press enquiries, with over 60% closed prior to 2015.”
The bank said it is “satisfied that adequate due diligence, assessments, and other control-related actions were completed in line with our current structure” for accounts that are still operational. The bank also stated that it is unable to comment on “possible client connections” due to the legislation.
In recent years, Switzerland has worked to dispel its reputation as a haven for tax evasion, money laundering, and government fund theft, all of which are carried out through the abuse of its banking secrecy regulations. Those laws, however, continue to be criticized.
A statement from the leak’s source was published in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
It stated, “I believe that Swiss banking secrecy regulations are immoral.” “The excuse of protecting financial privacy is only a fig leaf for Swiss banks’ reprehensible position as tax evaders’ collaborators.”
