ZURICH: Credit Suisse posted an unexpectedly big net second-quarter loss yesterday as a huge US tax evasion fine sent it deep into the red.
The bank revealed a negative figure of 700m Swiss francs ($778m). The Swiss banking giant paid a $2.6bn settlement to US authorities in May over tax evasion charges. The bank stood accused of helping thousands of wealthy Americans hide money in offshore accounts to escape the US revenue service. The bank’s quarterly losses exceeded the forecasts of analysts who had expected them to average 598m Swiss francs. Last year Credit Suisse posted a 1.04bn-franc profit over the same period.
The US fine heavily impacted the giant’s private banking and wealth management divisions, which racked up pre-tax losses of 749m Swiss francs, Credit Suisse said in a statement. This was offset by corporate banking activities which generated a pre-tax profit of 752 million Swiss francs, on a par with the same period last year but down 9 percent since the first quarter. AFP
