Credit Suisse to pay $536 mn to US for bursting sanctions (Myanmar)

Lalit K Jha/PTI / Washington December 17, 2009, 14:11 IST

Swiss bank major Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $536 million to the United States for flouting laws and doing business with and for countries which America had specifically banned from its financial systems.

The violations relate to transactions Credit Suisse illegally conducted on behalf of customers from Iran, Sudan, Myanmar and other countries, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and New York state law.

"Indeed, as set forth in the court documents filed today, this case offers a stark and disturbing example of the lengths to which some corporate wrongdoers are willing to go in seeking ill-gotten financial gains," said the US Attorney General, Eric Holder, at a news conference yesterday.

For more than a decade, he alleged, Credit Suisse did business with and for countries on which the US had imposed sanctions, prohibiting financial transactions.

Credit Suisse, like all other major global banks, knew well that the US would not process financial transactions from individuals or companies in places like Iran, Libya, Sudan, Burma, and Cuba, he said.

"But rather than adhere to the law and decline to serve these customers, Credit Suisse established a business model to allow these rogue players access to US dollars."

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/credit-suisse-to-pay-536-mn-to-us-for-bursting-sanctions/81099/on