Prosecuting banks for tax offences

Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second largest bank, helped some 22,000 US account holders break the law by evading taxes on their secretly held Swiss deposits. As the US attorney general, Eric Holder, noted, the bank was engaged in "an extensive and wide-ranging conspiracy". It has paid a high price – a hefty $2.6 billion (€1.9 billion) fine to the US authorities in settlement – and become the first major bank since the mid 1990s to plead guilty to criminal charges. Some uncertainty undoubtedly surrounds the future of the bank, which has suffered serious reputational damage that will adversely affect its relationship with counter-parties, other banks and investors. But has the US justice department secured too little in the settlement reached with the bank in exchange for its guilty plea?

Credit Suisse has retained its US bank licence, and its chief executive, who presided over the debacle, seems set to survive. The bank’s share rallied rather than declined on news of its conviction and fine. One surprising feature of the settlement was the failure to insist on full disclosure of the names of all Credit Suisse’s American account holders.

Just 238 of these 22,000 customers with secret accounts have so far been identified. And with client confidentiality and bank secrecy still a cornerstone of Swiss law, that number may not increase.

Nevertheless, the willingness of the US authorities to take a criminal prosecution against a major financial institution – albeit a foreign bank – marks a change of approach.

In the past, fear of failure to secure a criminal conviction, or concern lest a successful prosecution result in a bank failure that could threaten the stability of the financial system, have all been constraining factors. The resolve shown by the justice department in pursuing Credit Suisse, which actively sought to frustrate its investigation, has demonstrated a welcome determination by regulators to ensure that no major bank is above the law, or can be exempt from criminal prosecution.