Credit Suisse Group is to pay around $30m (£22.6m) to US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle charges the bank obtained investment banking business in the Asia-Pacific region by corruptly influencing foreign officials in violation of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
Credit Suisse has also agreed to pay a $47m criminal penalty to the US Department of Justice.
The SEC say several senior Credit Suisse managers in the Asia-Pacific region sought to win business by hiring and promoting individuals connected to government officials as part of a quid pro quo arrangement.
While the practice of hiring client referrals bypassed the firm’s normal hiring process, employees in other Credit Suisse subsidiaries and affiliates were aware of it and in some instances approved these ‘relationship hires’ or ‘referral hires’.
The SEC found that in a six-year period, Credit Suisse offered to hire more than 100 individuals referred by or connected to foreign government officials, resulting in millions of dollars of business revenue.
Charles Cain, chief of the SEC enforcement division’s FCPA unit, said: ‘Bribery can take many forms, including granting employment to friends and relatives of government officials. Credit Suisse’s practice of engaging in these hiring practices violated the law, and it is now being held to account for having done so.’
Credit Suisse agreed to pay disgorgement of $24.9m plus $4.8m in interest to settle the SEC’s case.
Report by Pat Sweet
