· The global investment bank and financial services firm Credit Suisse has been slapped with a fine of £147m by UK authorities over a corruption scandal involving Mozambique’s tuna fishing industry.
· The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has instructed the bank to also write off $200m of debt owed by Mozambique.
· The fine is part of a $475m settlement with UK, Swiss and US regulators.
The global investment bank and financial services firm Credit Suisse has been slapped with a fine of £147m by UK authorities over a corruption scandal involving Mozambique’s tuna fishing industry. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has instructed the bank to also write off $200m of debt owed by Mozambique. The fine is part of a $475m settlement with UK, Swiss and US regulators.
The allegation is that Credit Suisse staff took and paid bribes to arrange $1.3bn of industry loans which reflected the failure of the Bank to manage the risk of financial crime. Executive director of enforcement Mark Steward said that these tainted transactions caused a debt crisis and economic harm for the people of Mozambique. Credit Suisse has agreed to write-off $200m debt.
According to the FCA findings, a Mozambique government contractor secretly paid kickbacks of over $50m, to members of Credit Suisse’s deal team” between 2012 and 2016 to secure loans at more favourable rates.Two managing directors of the investment bank were accused of receiving the bribes. Mozambican officials also pocketed at least $137m in bribes during the same period, the FCA said.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also alleged that Credit Suisse’s deficient internal accounting controls failed to check risks of bribery.Credit Suisse has agreed to pay the SEC nearly $100m.Several persons including the son of former President Armando Guebuza, former Credit Suisse investment bankers and their intermediaries – have been charged with bribery, embezzlement and money laundering.
