Credit Suisse Still Aiding Tax Evasion by Ultra-Wealthy: Senate Panel

To oversee the historic acquisition, UBS is bringing back Sergio Ermotti as chief executive officer, tapping a Swiss insider with extensive restructuring experience to replace Ralph Hamers after just over two years.

The Senate report also comes a day after prosecutors in France raided some of the nation’s largest banks, including Societe Generale SA and BNP Paribas SA, as part of an investigation into suspected tax fraud and money laundering.

Wyden said the Senate’s investigation shows Credit Suisse didn’t live up to the 2014 deal and that its pending acquisition “does not wipe the slate clean.” The senator called on the Justice Department to crack down on “repeat offenders like Credit Suisse” and pursue criminal investigations of individual bankers.

Under the plea agreement, the bank still has an obligation to identify all undeclared accounts to the Internal Revenue Service. The committee uncovered two dozen “large, potentially undeclared accounts” belonging to wealthy clients, the report said.

Last year, the bank identified 10 clients with accounts of $20 million or more. In recent days, the banks also disclosed another 13 accounts with $20 million or more that may be held by US persons.

“It is deeply concerning that almost nine years after executives testified before Congress that the bank would clean up its act, Credit Suisse is still disclosing hundreds of millions of dollars in secret offshore accounts belonging to wealthy U.S. taxpayers,” the report said.

Credit Suisse said it is doing its part.

“Our clear policy is to close undeclared accounts when identified, and to discipline any employee who fails to comply with bank policy or falls short of Credit Suisse’s standards of conduct,” the bank said.