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BELLINZONA — Credit Suisse was convicted by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court for failing to prevent the misuse of money in the country's first criminal trial against one of Switzerland's major banks.
A former employee was convicted of financial washing in a trial. This includes testimony about murder and cash packed in suitcases and is considered a test case for prosecutors taking a stricter line against national banks.
This is another headache for Switzerland's second largest bank, freed from the billions of losses accumulated by risk management and compliance failures.
Both Credit Suisse and a former employee denied cheating.
Credit Suisse said he would appeal the conviction.
Judges find out if Credit Suisse and a former employee did enough to prevent the Bulgarian cocaine trafficking gang from washing profits through banks between 2004 and 2008. I did.
A court found a flaw in Credit Suisse on Monday with respect to both managing customer relationships with criminal organizations and monitoring enforcement of money laundering prevention rules.
"These flaws have made it possible to withdraw the assets of criminal organizations, which was the basis for the conviction of a former bank employee for qualified money laundering," the court said. Said.
"If the organization's obligations were fulfilled, the company could have prevented the infringement," the presiding judge ruled.
Credit Suisse said the incident arose from an investigation that dates back more than 14 years.
"Credit Suisse is continuously testing the anti-money laundering framework and has been strengthening it over time in accordance with evolving regulatory standards," the bank said.
"It is important for Credit Suisse to generate compliant business growth in line with regulatory requirements."
Credit Suisse is 2 million Swiss francs ($ 2.1 million) Facing a fine. The court also ordered the drug gang to confiscate the assets of more than CHF12 million held in Credit Suisse's account and order the bank to waive more than CHF19 million. This is the amount that could not be confiscated due to an internal flaw in Credit. Switzerland.
The court has given a former employee who cannot be named under Swiss privacy law a 20-month suspension of imprisonment and a fine for washing money.
Legal action
Corruption and money laundering experts say that the fact that Switzerland has taken legal action against global banking players like Credit Switzerland is He said he could send a powerful message to a country famous in the banking industry.
"This could be a diversion moment for Switzerland," said Mark Peace, a money laundering expert at Basel University, on the eve of the trial.
"The important thing in this case is that Switzerland is taking legal action against companies as well as companies. Credit Suisse is one of the jewels of the Swiss crown."
Swiss private banks have adopted stricter anti-money laundering checks after cracking down on international regulations to prevent money laundering.
Under Swiss law, companies may be held liable and criminally liable for improper organization or failure to take all reasonable steps to prevent the occurrence of crime. there is.
In the case of Credit Suisse, the prosecutor helped the former relationship manager hide the criminal source of the client through transactions of over 146 million Swiss francs, including cash of 43 million francs. Insisted. suitcase.
The relationship manager who left Credit Suisse in 2010 was not in court on Monday.
At a court hearing in February, a former relationship manager learned about the murder and cocaine smuggling that Credit Switzerland was allegedly associated with a Bulgarian gang, but is now the focus of the trial. He said he continued to manage his cash.
During the hearing, a former banker said he had informed the manager about an event involving two murders related to the client, but still decided to pursue the business.
Credit Suisse challenged the source of illegal funding, alleging that a former Bulgarian wrestler and his circle were doing legitimate business in construction, leasing and hotels.
($ 1 = 0.9594 Swiss Franc)
(Report by Paul Carrel, edited by Michael Shields and Jane Merriman)