Credit Suisse
According to its 2019 Annual Report filed with the SEC: "During 2019, Credit Suisse AG processed a small number of de minimis payments related to the operation of Iranian diplomatic missions in Switzerland and related to fees for ministerial government functions such as issuing passports and visas. Processing these payments is permitted under Swiss law, and Credit Suisse AG intends to continue processing such payments. Revenues and profits from these activities are not calculated but would be negligible."
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"Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA, Commerzbank AG, Credit Agricole SA, Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Standard Chartered Plc had been sued by military personnel who survived the attacks, and relatives and estates of those killed.
The plaintiffs accused the banks in a 533-page complaint of concealing their work for Iran through such practices as altering wire transfers, and masking the identities of those transferring funds.
But the judge found the complaint “devoid” of allegations that the banks knew they were enabling attacks in Iraq linked to Hezbollah, al Qaeda and other groups that the U.S. government has designated as foreign terrorist organizations." (3/29/2019)
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As stated in its 2018 form filed with the SEC: "During 2018, Credit Suisse AG processed a small number of de minimis payments related to the operation of Iranian diplomatic missions in Switzerland and related to fees for ministerial government functions such as issuing passports and visas. Processing these payments is permitted under Swiss law and is performed with the consent of Swiss authorities, and Credit Suisse AG intends to continue processing such payments. Revenues and profits from these activities are not calculated but would be negligible. Credit Suisse AG also continued to hold funds from two wire transfers to non-Iranian customers which were blocked pursuant to Swiss sanctions laws because Iranian government-owned entities had initiated the transfers. Such funds, in a total amount of EUR 4,460, were maintained in blocked accounts opened in accordance with Swiss sanctions laws and, in September 2018, released to the non-Iranian customers after Switzerland had lifted its sanctions against the relevant Iranian government-owned entities. Credit Suisse AG derived no revenues or profits from maintenance of these previously blocked accounts or the release of the funds."
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As stated in its 2017 20-F form filed with the SEC: “During 2016, Credit Suisse AG processed a small number of de minimis payments related to the operation of Iranian diplomatic missions in Switzerland and to fees for ministerial government functions such as issuing passports and visas. Processing these payments is permitted under Swiss law and is performed with the consent of Swiss authorities, and Credit Suisse AG intends to continue processing such payments. Revenues and profits from these activities are not calculated but would be negligible. Credit Suisse AG also continues to hold funds from two wire transfers to non-Iranian customers which were blocked pursuant to Swiss sanctions because Iranian government-owned entities have an interest in such transfers. Such funds are maintained in blocked accounts opened in accordance with Swiss sanctions requirements. Credit Suisse AG derives no revenues or profits from maintenance of these blocked accounts.”
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According to its Annual Report filed with the SEC for fiscal year 2014: "During 2014, Credit Suisse AG processed a small number of de minimis payments related to the operation of Iranian diplomatic missions in Switzerland and to fees for ministerial government functions such as issuing passports and visas. Processing these payments is permitted under Swiss law and is performed with the consent of Swiss authorities, and Credit Suisse AG intends to continue processing such payments. Revenues and profits from these activities are not calculated but would be negligible.
Credit Suisse AG also continues to hold funds from two wire transfers to non-Iranian customers which were blocked pursuant to Swiss sanctions because Iranian government-owned entities have an interest in such transfers. Such funds are maintained in blocked accounts opened in accordance with Swiss sanctions requirements. Credit Suisse AG derives no revenues or profits from maintenance of these blocked accounts."
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According to its Annual Report filed with the SEC for fiscal year 2013: "During 2013, Credit Suisse AG processed a small number of de minimis payments related to the operation of Iranian diplomatic missions in Switzerland and to fees for ministerial government functions such as issuing passports and visas. Processing these payments is permitted under Swiss law and is performed with the consent of Swiss authorities, and Credit Suisse AG intends to continue processing such payments. Revenues and profits from these activities are not calculated but would be negligible.
Credit Suisse AG also continues to hold funds from two wire transfers to non-Iranian customers which were blocked pursuant to Swiss sanctions because Iranian government-owned entities have an interest in such transfers. Such funds are maintained in blocked accounts opened in accordance with Swiss sanctions requirements. Credit Suisse AG derives no revenues or profits from maintenance of these blocked accounts."
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"Since 2009, the Justice Department, the Treasury Department and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, working largely in concert, have brought charges against five foreign banks, contending they moved billions of dollars through their American subsidiaries on behalf of Iran, Cuba and North Korea, sponsors of terrorism and drug cartels. The cases against the five banks all included deferred prosecution agreements and required the banks — ABN Amro, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Lloyds and most recently ING — to forfeit a substantial amount of assets. The cases typically have not involved United States banks. Unlike foreign institutions, American banks were prohibited from originating or receiving such transactions from Iran. That enabled them to largely sidestep the conduct that has helped ensnare foreign banks." (New York Times, "Deutsche Bank’s Business With Sanctioned Nations Under Scrutiny," 8/17/12)
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According to its Annual Report filed with the SEC for fiscal year 2012: "During 2012, Credit Suisse AG processed a small number of de minimis payments related to the operation of Iranian diplomatic missions in Switzerland and to fees for ministerial government functions such as issuing passports and visas. Processing these payments is permitted under Swiss law and is performed with the consent of Swiss authorities, and Credit Suisse AG intends to continue processing such payments. Revenues and profits from these activities are not calculated but would be negligible.
Credit Suisse AG also holds funds from two wire transfers to non-Iranian customers which were blocked pursuant to Swiss sanctions because Iranian government-owned entities have an interest in such transfers. Such funds are maintained in blocked accounts opened in accordance with Swiss sanctions requirements. Credit Suisse AG derives no revenues or profits from maintenance of these blocked accounts."
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"Credit Suisse AG agreed to pay $536 million in penalties to the United States and New York State on Dec. 16, 2009 to settle charges that it violated sanctions by helping Iran and other countries secretly funnel hundreds of millions of dollars through American banks. According to the government, from 1995 through 2006, Credit Suisse branches removed information, such as customer names and bank names, from American-bound wire transfers that would have signaled that the money originated in Iran. Before exiting Iran and other countries under sanctions in 2006, the bank received some small contracts from the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Energy." The company received $2 million from the US government for their business in Iran during 2000-2009. They have withdrawn their business investments in Iran. (The New York Times, "Profiting from Iran, and the US," 3/6/2010)
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They referred to banks with code names like “Iron” and “Wood.” Sometimes they just used initials.
For nearly two decades, employees of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank after UBS, helped their clients in Iran and other countries avoid sanctions by concealing their identities when they did business with the United States, federal and New York State authorities said at separate news conferences on Wednesday. Credit Suisse ended the practicing of helping its clients skirt sanctions in 2006 and agreed to pay federal and state authorities $536 million to settle the charges.
“Credit Suisse abused its standing as a leader in international banking by intentionally processing these illegal payments through U.S. banks,” Robert M. Morgenthau, theManhattan district attorney, told reporters in his office. (The New York Times, "Credit Suisse Settles Inquiry Over Iran Sanctions," 12/17/09)
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"Credit Suisse is expected to pay a fine of $536 million to settle accusations by the United States government and New York State authorities that it violated sanctions by helping Iran and other countries secretly funnel hundreds of millions of dollars through American banks, people involved in the negotiations said Tuesday.
Investigators found that the bank, the second-largest in Switzerland, removed information from American-bound wire transfers that would have signaled that the money originated in Iranian banks, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the case.
Two of the organizations that Credit Suisse facilitated transactions for, the official said, were the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Aerospace Industries Organization, both of which are designated as proliferators of weapons of mass destruction by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control. Both are barred from doing business with the United States.
In a statement released Tuesday, Credit Suisse confirmed that it would most likely pay $536 million in a settlement. The release did not provide details about the case, other than to say that it involved dollar payments from 2002 through April 2007 for 'parties that are subject to U.S. economic sanctions.'
Credit Suisse said it began an internal investigation into the situation in December 2005 and had since changed its practices, including termination of all business with organizations that have been subject to sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, closing an office in Tehran and appointing a global sanctions compliance officer...
The authorities identified more than 7,000 illicit transactions that Credit Suisse facilitated, worth about $700 million, a law enforcement official said. Investigators found an additional $1.1 billion in transactions that had been manipulated, but they have not deemed them as violating sanctions in this case, the official said.
Investigators found that Credit Suisse’s employees violated both state and federal laws by falsifying outgoing dollar payment messages that involved Iran. The bank’s employees removed reference to Iran or its banks, a practice called stripping.
Not only did Credit Suisse employees strip the wire transfers, but they also advised the Iranian banks on how to format their transfers to avoid detection, according to the official. As a result, investigators say, Iranian banks like Bank Saderat and Bank Melli were able to use Credit Suisse to send more than a billion dollars through New York banks.
The Atomic Energy Organization is said to have ties with Iran’s nuclear weapons program, while Aerospace Industries works with long-range missiles, the authorities said. Law enforcement officials said they thought the organizations had been buying materials for their programs. The sellers, most of whom were outside the United States, wanted dollars, and so the money passed through Manhattan banks, law enforcement officials said." (The New York Times, "Iranian Dealings Lead to a Fine for Credit Suisse," 12/16/09)
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“Evidence of Iran's efforts to acquire sensitive materials also is emerging from investigations by state and federal prosecutors in New York into whether a number of major Western banks illegally handled funds for Iran and deliberately hid Iranian transactions routed through the U.S….Documents detailing Iran's metals acquisition efforts are being reviewed by U.S. law-enforcement and intelligence officials, people involved in the matter said. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said he is conducting a broad inquiry into illegal transactions by Iran. Last week, Lloyds TSB of London agreed to pay $350 million to settle U.S. sanctions-busting charges with Mr. Morgenthau's office and the Justice Department. The bank admitted it violated U.S. law but said the practice has ceased. There are nine other banks that we think were doing this, said Mr. Morgenthau in an interview, including Barclays PLC of the U.K. A Barclays spokesman had no comment beyond a prior disclosure confirming the inquiry. Other banks under scrutiny in the probe include Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, people with knowledge of the inquiries said." (The Wall Street Journal, "Fresh Clues of Iranian Nuclear Intrigue," 1/16/09)
No response at this time.