Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse Group AG is about to plead guilty to a criminal charge that it helped Americans evade taxes and agreed to pay about $2.5 billion as part of a deal ending the investigation, Bloomberg said. Negotiations are still in progress. Officially, the results of the agreement will be announced next week.
The bank will have to pay fines of $1.8 billion to the Justice Department and $715 million to the New York State Department of Financial Services as well as a $100-million penalty to the Federal Reserve.
The investigation is held by the U.S. Justice Department and financial regulators. Credit Suisse will have to plead guilty before the federal court of the city of Alexandria, VA.
In case the bank pays the fine, the minimum Basel III leverage ratio would be below 10%. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse target is above 11%.
On February 26, Credit Suisse apologized to a Senate subcommittee, during a February 26 hearing that was devoted to assessment of actions of the U.S. Department of Justice in its fight against the offshore tax avoidance. Then, Credit Suisse Group was a witness. Under the U.S. law, brokers are not allowed to provide advisory services without a license from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As a result, Credit Suisse is to pay a $196 million fine.
