The US Committee on the Budget’s investigation into reports related to Credit Suisse’s servicing of Nazi clients and Nazi-linked accounts found that the beleaguered Swiss bank “established an unnecessarily rigid and narrow scope” into a multi-year internal probe on the matter. The Committee disclosed this on Tuesday in a statement.

Between 1941 and 1945, during the period of World War II that started in 1939, more than six million European Jews were executed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators in what is called the Holocaust. The genocide is said to have wiped out two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population.

Credit Suisse Allegedly Stunted Probe into Nazi Accounts

Reports reviewed by the Committee found that the Swiss lender, which was founded in 1856, appeared to have maintained at least 99 undisclosed accounts belonging to either senior Nazi officials in Germany or members of Nazi-affiliated groups. The reports also allege that Credit Suisse after 1945 opened 70 accounts linked to Nazis based in Argentina, with at least 14 still active as recently as 2020.

According to the Committee, in March 2020, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre (SWC), an international Jewish human rights organization, informed Credit Suisse that it had credible information about potential Nazi-linked accounts not previously disclosed by the lender during the several Holocaust-related investigations done in the past decades.

In reaction to this development, the Swiss bank voluntarily agreed to investigate the claims, tapping forensic research firm AlixPartners to review the claim and onboarding Neil Barofsky of law firm Jennner & Block LLP in June 2021 to oversee the review as an independent ombudsman.

However, a report obtained by the US Committee from Barofsky through subpoena and another from AlixPartners’ initial report, found that Credit Suisse “inexplicably terminated” Barofsky's appointment while the review was still ongoing. The reports also show that the 166-year-old Swiss banker “refused to follow new leads uncovered during the course of the review.”

“[Credit Suisse’s] removal of an Independent Ombudsperson and insistence on redacting portions of his report as well as its initial refusal to pursue leads on accounts that may be associated with Nazi ratlines is no way to conduct a thorough and complete investigation,” explained Chuck Grassley, the US Senator who investigated the reports alongside Sheldon Whitehouse, Chairman of the Committee.

The Committee further noted that the reports, as a result, "are incomplete and were hampered by scoping restrictions." Nonetheless, they reveal undisclosed Nazi-linked accounts and "raise new questions about the bank’s potential support for Nazis fleeing justice following World War II via so-called 'Ratlines'.”

Probe Found No Evidence: Credit Suisse

The Committee noted that Credit Suisse continues to object to the release of Barofsky's report despite the subpoena. The bank has also taken steps that have caused Barofsky to object to producing the entire report without certain redactions.

Regardless, the Committed noted that Credit Suisse has pledged to expand the scope of its initial investigation into the matter. However, Reuters reported that the Swiss bank defended the initial investigation, saying the internal probe found no evidence to support key claims made by SWC.

Meanwhile, the US Senate Finance Committee in its two-year investigation concluded last month found that Credit Suisse breached a 2014 plea deal agreed with the US Department of Justice by aiding ultra-wealthy American clients to avoid taxes. The Swiss bank helped the clients hide over $700 million in undeclared accounts, according to the Committee's findings.

The new findings come to light even as the Swiss banking giant suffered from the recent banking crisis but was saved by a quick takeover deal from rival UBS. However, the deal, which is expected to be finalized by the end of 2023, is being investigated by Swiss prosecutors.

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