Credit Suisse In HK To Pay $47 Million To Settle Asian Hiring Probe

Tom Burroughes

7 June 2018

The Hong Kong operation of is to pay about $47 million to the US Department of Justice and entered a non-prosecution agreement to settle a probe into claims it hired employees in exchange for government contracts and other favours.

The hiring practices in question covered a period between 2007 and 2013, it said in a statement yesterday. The Zurich-listed bank is among a number of lenders accused of sharp practice around hiring of staff. Banks including JP Morgan and HSBC allegedly hired children of Chinese policymakers to attract business (source: Bloomberg, 6 June, 2018).

No criminal charges have been brought, Credit Suisse said in a statement.

The penalty has been "substantially" provided for in prior periods and won't materailly affect second-quarter results for this year; those figures are issued on 31 July, it said. The bank said that since 2013 it has improved its compliance and control functions.

This legacy matter did not impact the services provided to any clients, investors or counterparties, it added.

The bank said earlier this year that entities including the DOJ and US Securities and Exchange Commission were probing whether it hired referreals from government and other state-owned entities in return for business and regulatory approvals, potentially breaching the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (source: Bloomberg).

In recent years, Credit Suisse has pivoted towards Asia, and seen growth in its Asian private banking operations.