Posted on 12/16/2009 7:05:32 PM PST by PaulAllen
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Credit Suisse Group helped clients in Iran and elsewhere conduct financial transactions in secret, saying Wednesday the Swiss bank "established a business model to allow these rogue players access to U.S. dollars."
Mr. Holder and Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau detailed a decade-long effort by the bank to carry out transactions from Iran, Libya, Sudan, Burma and Cuba.
The men announced a $536 million settlement by Credit Suisse, one of several banks accused in a long-running case that has netted roughly $1 billion in fines. The bank, which paid the biggest of the fines, reached a deferred prosecution agreement, meaning they'll be monitored for violations by Swiss authorities and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Mr. Holder said Credit Suisse produced a pamphlet for clients explaining how to avoid detection by U.S. authorities on their financial transactions. Credit Suisse had also circulated images of payment applications showing how to properly format them to avoid detection.
"The settlement we announce today ensures that Credit Suisse will not flout the law again for its own financial gain," Mr. Holder said. He called the bank's operation "simply astounding."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Maybe the Swiss will re-think having branches in the US.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8417239.stm
This story is apparently getting much more "air time" in Europe.
Eric Holder said Credit Suisse Group helped clients in Iran and elsewhere conduct financial transactions in secret......maybe they can track down who paid for Barry Soetero's "vacation" in Pakistan when he was a young man.
The recently deceased Richard C. Holbrooke was an executive with Credit Suisse First Boston
Thanks for archiving the info, Piasa.
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