Credit Suisse pressed by US senators over Nazi accounts probe

UBS may have to answer for legacy legal issues at Credit Suisse. © Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Top US Senators accused Credit Suisse Group of failing to follow through on pledges to cooperate with a probe into allegations the bank concealed information about accounts held by Nazis in the decades after World War II.

Sheldon Whitehouse, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and Charles Grassley, the panel’s ranking Republican, said in a letter dated July 20 that the Swiss bank’s public assertion that it is fully cooperating “strains credulity.”

+ A look back at the Holocaust assets controversy

The legislators called on Credit Suisse and UBS Group, which acquired the rival bank this year, to provide more information about its investigations into accounts held by Nazis at the bank after the war, setting a deadline of August 2 for providing information it has held back.

The senators said they “fully expect that UBS, as successor in interest to Credit Suisse, will abide by the commitments of its predecessor and ensure that this investigation is full and complete.”

A representative for Credit Suisse declined to comment. UBS had no immediate comment.

The move highlights the continuing US pressure on Credit Suisse for its alleged ties to Nazi clients. The Senate panel in April accused the bank of impeding an investigation into its historical assistance for Nazis. That probe exposed a number of undisclosed accounts, but the legislators accused Credit Suisse of failing to follow new leads and removing the independent ombudsman overseeing it.

“Despite Credit Suisse’s commitments, our staff has received little in the way of updates — despite requests for additional information,” according to the Budget Committee letter. 

In 1998, Swiss firms led by Credit Suisse and UBS reached a $1.25 billion settlement with Jewish groups that accused them of holding on to the assets of Holocaust victims. The accord came after US local governments threatened to boycott the banks and divest Swiss investments.

In April, Credit Suisse said its probe of the matter didn’t support key claims about Nazi-linked accounts made by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in 2020 and that a report prepared by the ombudsman, Neil Barofsky, contained “numerous factual errors” and other flaws.

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