Banks, Credit Suisse and UBS would have helped the Russian oligarchs
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Credit Suisse and UBS are among the banks under scrutiny in a US Justice Department investigation into whether or not the bankers helped Russian oligarchs evade Western sanctions. The news is reported by the media.
Swiss banks were reportedly included in a recent wave of subpoenas sent by the US government ahead of the crisis that engulfed Credit Suisse and led to UBS’s proposed takeover.
The subpoenas would also go to employees of some major US banks. On the Zurich Stock Exchange, UBS shares lost more than 7% and Credit Suisse lost 8.2%.
Before sanctions were imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Credit Suisse managed up to $60 billion for Russian clients. The bank was still managing $33 billion when it ended its business with clients in May 2022, says the Bloomberg report that first broke the news.
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The US Justice Department announced in March 2022 that it had launched the KleptoCapture Task Force to enforce sanctions, export restrictions and economic countermeasures that had been imposed on Russian officials and government-aligned elites.
“The Justice Department will use all of its authority to seize the assets of individuals and entities who violate these sanctions,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said at the time. “We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue this unjust war.”
The task force works with prosecutors, agents, and analysts, among others, to try to shut down Russian agents and their facilitators.
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