Bloomberg learned about the US Credit Suisse check on possible assistance to the Russians

Swiss banks Credit Suisse and UBS were among the banks that the US Department of Justice decided to check to see if they helped the Russians evade sanctions, BLOOMBERG reports citing sources.

According to the interlocutors of the agency, subpoenas were sent to the banks, this happened before UBS bought Credit Suisse. In addition to them, subpoenas were also sent to employees of some large American banks, two Bloomberg interlocutors said.

As one of the sources explained, the Ministry of Justice intends to identify bank employees who worked with clients under sanctions, and how these clients were checked over the past few years. Bank employees are then scheduled to check whether they have broken any laws.

On March 19, Swiss bank UBS, the second largest in the country, bought its rival Credit Suisse, which has been experiencing problems in recent months, and in March faced an increase in the outflow of depositors. The transaction amount is 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.25 billion), which amounted to only 40.5% of the already collapsed market capitalization of Credit Suisse in the auction on the eve of the transaction. The deal itself will not be cash, UBS will pay with its shares.

Prior to this, in mid-February, Bloomberg learned that in three weeks of 2023, the US financial crime enforcement agency FinCEN received more than 100 reports from whistleblowers, some of which are related to the possible circumvention of sanctions against RUSSIA by banks. The same number of applications were received by FinCEN in the previous two years. At the same time, the increase in the number of appeals may be due to the fact that whistleblowers have the opportunity to receive remuneration (from 10 to 30% of the fine) for the data provided, the agency notes.