Two Swiss financial institutions, Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS Group AG, are reportedly under investigation by the US Justice Department on suspicion that they assisted Russian billionaires in violating sanctions.Â
The US government issued subpoenas to learn who at Credit Suisse and UBS had contact with sanctioned customers and how they were screened.
Employees who were in contact with customers on the sanctions list may be looked into more to see if any laws were broken. These employees could be subject to further investigations for any violations of the law.
Before ending its business with Russia in May of last year, Credit Suisse had a reputation for successfully managing over $60 billion on behalf of Russian clients.
Even though UBS had a larger wealth management division, Credit Suisse held about $33 billion for them at the time of termination, nearly 50% more.
Credit Suisse seems unable to catch a break, it had a brief moment of relief when UBS announced the $3.2 billion acquisition.
Now UBS may investigate Credit Suisse’s clientele further after the emergency takeover in response to questions from US authorities.
