Credit Suisse fights back after global tax raids

CREDIT Suisse has sought to defend its damaged reputation after gold, jewellery and cash was seized from accounts in a series of international raids.

The Swiss lender has taken out double-page adverts in three national newspapers stressing its ‘zero-tolerance’ policy on tax evasion.

The damage-limitation attempt came after three of its offices were raided in an international tax- case involving 55,000 suspect accounts.

It saw lawmakers snatch property, fine art, gold bullion and a Mercedes all belonging to super-rich clients of Credit Suisse. Two people were arrested.

It was part of a global investigation into whether customers had savings which were not declared to tax authorities.

The raids reopened the controversial issue of tax evasion which has plagued Swiss banks for years. Wealthy individuals around the world use the country’s strict bank secrecy laws to hide cash from the taxman.

Credit Suisse was quick to try and salvage its bruised reputation, by issuing a message to its clients and the public in ‘response to recent reports about tax probes in various European countries’.

A spokesman said: ‘Given the recent developments, we believe it important to inform the public openly and transparently about our zero tolerance policy on tax evasion.’

The bank, which was fined £2.1bn three years ago for helping thousands of its US clients evade tax, sought to offer assurances that it complied with the laws, rules and regulations in the markets in which it operated.

‘As of 2011, we conducted a large review of our European business and requested clients to provide evidence of their tax compliance,’ it said.

‘As a result of our review, the bank terminated the relationships with clients who did not provide evidence that they paid taxes and declared their assets. This led to very significant asset outflows as we do not want to do business with clients who are unwilling to provide the required evidence.’

However tax campaigners have said this did not go far enough.

The raids sparked a diplomatic row between Switzerland and the Netherlands. Officials in Geneva are furious they were kept in the dark.

Alex Cobham, chief executive of the Tax Justice Network, said: ‘There is a widespread view that there is institutional corruption of financial services in Switzerland. It’s no coincidence that the Swiss attorney general was kept in the dark about these international raids.’

Two arrests were made in the Netherlands, where assets seized from safes and homes in the Hague included property, 35 paintings worth £1m, a Mercedes and a 1kg gold ingot.

In France, investigators found ‘several thousand’ bank accounts had been opened in Switzerland by French taxpayers who were suspected of failing to declare them to the authorities.

Credit Suisse has already said it has launched an internal probe, and that the investigation would not be executed by the business.