ZURICH (Reuters) - Geneva prosecutors are investigating if Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) exercised adequate oversight of money deposited in its accounts that belonged to Turkish investors who suffered losses, Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported on Tuesday.
FILE PHOTO: Switzerland's national flags fly beside the logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse in Zurich, Switzerland April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
In the three-year-old case, two independent asset managers who used Credit Suisse accounts to deposit money from wealthy Turkish clients are suspected of covering up losses linked to the Turkish lira’s collapse in 2013.
Prosecutors recently began probing whether Credit Suisse should have done more to halt transactions that led to losses, the Tages-Anzeiger reported.
Credit Suisse said it did nothing wrong.
“The bank rejects all legal responsibility and will use all its resources to fight these accusations,” it said in a statement to Reuters.
Prosecutors in Geneva did not immediately return a phone call and an email seeking comment.
The bank, which notified Swiss authorities in March 2015 about potential problems after learning of millions of losses through one of the alleged Turkish victims, earned about 80 million Swiss francs ($79.10 million) in commissions from the transactions, according to past media reports. [reut.rs/2qHi4Tc]
The firm that managed money for the wealthy Turkish clients was founded by former Credit Suisse employees who said that they sought only to cover losses linked to the Turkish lira’s collapse, not to enrich themselves.
Actual damages in the case, which in 2016 were reported to be around 300 million francs, could actually be much lower, the newspaper said, citing a person familiar with the case, who said assets from the rich Turks are largely intact but currently in blocked accounts.
($1 = 1.0114 Swiss francs)
Reporting by John Miller and Oliver Hirt; editing by Louise Heavens
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