Credit Suisse to Pay SEC $30M for Corruption Charges

The Securities and Exchange Commission says Credit Suisse Group AG will pay about $30 million to resolve charges that it obtained investment banking business in the Asia-Pacific region by corruptly influencing foreign officials in violation of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

This development comes about one month after Credit Suisse agreed to pay a $47 million criminal penalty to the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to the SEC, several senior Credit Suisse managers in the Asia-Pacific region sought to win business by hiring and promoting more than100 individuals connected to government officials over a seven-year period as part of a quid pro quo arrangement, bypassing the firm’s normal hiring process and resulting in millions of dollars of business revenue.

Employees in other Credit Suisse subsidiaries and affiliates were aware of and in some instances approved these “relationship hires” or “referral hires,” regulators say.

According to a Bloomberg report, the Hong Kong office of Credit Suisse facilitated the hiring of some sons and daughters of Chinese government officials who lacked the required skills.

“Bribery can take many forms, including granting employment to friends and relatives of government officials.  Credit Suisse’s practice of engaging in these hiring practices violated the law, and it is now being held to account for having done so,” said Charles Cain, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit, in a statement.