WSJ caught Swiss bank Credit Suisse hiding close ties to Nazis

Swiss bank Credit Suisse concealed its ties with the Nazis, which turned out to be closer than previously thought. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal on January 4 with reference to previously closed archival documents.

It is noted that in 2021, the independent ombudsman Neil Barofsky launched a new investigation into the links of the credit organization with the Nazis. After Credit Suisse suspended Barofsky from the investigation due to the fact that the ombudsman allegedly "overstepped the boundaries they wanted to establish in the course of the investigation", nevertheless after a time he was reinstated.

As a result of the work done, documents of "dozens of individuals and entities associated with Nazi atrocities" were discovered for the first time. Thus, a preliminary search among 99 known Nazis and their associates yielded 13 name matches.

"In the course of the new investigation <...> it was found that the bank hid its role, not always sharing what it knew," - noted in the material.

It is pointed out that the main conclusions of previous investigations by independent commissions in the late 20th century were that the Swiss bank deliberately ignored the theft of Jewish assets by the Nazis during the war and hindered further attempts by relatives to recover the funds.

Earlier, on July 24, 2023, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority fined Swiss bank Credit Suisse $269 million and £87 million ($111 million) respectively. It is specified that the fines were accrued for gross misconduct in the bank's governance and risk management between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021 in connection with the financial decisions they made in relation to Archegos Capital Management.