Moreover, according to Reuters, the bank also fell short of its obligations to fight corruption while managing “a significant business relationship” with a politically exposed person. The enforcement action against Credit Suisse emerged from FINMA’s investigation into several Swiss financial institutions starting in 2015 in relation to suspected corruption involving FIFA, Brazil’s Petrobras and the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.
In 2017, FINMA reprimanded Credit Suisse over its dealings with Malaysian state fund 1MDB. Singapore’s central bank also fined the bank for breaching money laundering rules in the case.
FINMA will appoint an independent auditor to oversee the bank’s anti-money laundering processes, however it cannot impose penalties, as the regulator has no authority to fine banks it supervises.
Nevertheless, the financial authority acknowledged Credit Suisse has undertaken measures since 2015 to strengthen compliance and anti-money laundering protections, but said more must be done “to prove that higher-risk business relationships and transactions are adequately detected, categorised, monitored and documented”.
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