Swiss bank to pay 238 million euros to settle French fraud case

Switzerland's second-largest bank, Crédit Suisse, has agreed to pay 238 million euros to avoid prosecution on French money laundering and tax fraud charges.

The Crédit Suisse headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Reuters/Christian Hartmann

According to a settlement approved on Monday by a Paris court, Crédit Suisse will pay a fine of 123 million euros, and an additional 115 million euros in damages and interest to the French state.

Crédit Suisse said it had reached the settlement "to resolve an investigation into historical cross-border private-banking services."

The bank statement streeses that the settlement does not imply any recognition of criminal liability.

French financial prosecutors opened a probe in 2016 and found that 5,000 French nationals had undeclared Crédit Suisse accounts with assests totalling two billion euros, according to the court.

The judge presiding over the settlement said that Crédit Suisse bankers had prospected for clients in high-end French restaurants and hotels, bypassing the bank's offices in France.

Systematic, long-term and devious scheme

Prosecutor Francois-Xavier Dulin said the settlement took into account the systematic character of the approaches over a lengthy period, and the creation of tools to hide the bank's prospecting of French clients between 2005 and 2012.

He said Crédit Suisse had created offshore entities to aid clients to avoid declaring certain assets to French authorities.

Prosecutors say the settlement has taken into account the bank's current cooperation with the French authorities, and the corrective measures it has undertaken.

"The bank is pleased to resolve this matter, which marks another important step in the proactive resolution of litigation and legacy issues," Crédit Suisse said in its statement.