Credit Suisse Services AG has admitted its guilt in the conspiracy charge brought by the United States in the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, related to aiding and advising its clients in the preparation and filing of false tax returns.
The agreement marks a violation of a prior guilty plea from 2014, resulting in the company being sentenced to three years of probation and required to pay a fine exceeding USD 217 million and restitution of more than USD 46 million. The special conditions of probation mandate that Credit Suisse Services AG fully cooperate with government investigations and adhere to the applicable laws.
Credit Suisse Services AG conspired to hide over USD 4 billion from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States through 475 foreign accounts, according to the prosecutor’s allegations. The entity maintained accounts in Singapore in the names of U.S. taxpayers who used them to evade taxes and reporting obligations in the United States.
Non-Prosecution Agreement
Additionally, alongside the guilty plea, Credit Suisse Services AG entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the Tax Division of the Department of Justice and the Eastern District of Virginia prosecutors regarding the accounts held at Credit Suisse AG Singapore.
The entity agreed to cooperate with the prosecution in the investigations and to pay significant fines for keeping the Singapore accounts for U.S. taxpayers who utilized them for tax evasion and reporting obligations in the United States.
Between January 1, 2010, and July 2021, Credit Suisse AG deliberately conspired to assist high-net-worth clients worldwide in hiding their ownership and control of assets and funds deposited at the bank. This enabled them to evade their tax responsibilities in the U.S. in multiple ways, including the opening and maintaining of undeclared offshore accounts.
To achieve this, they falsified records, processed fake charitable donation documents, and managed over a billion dollars in accounts without tax compliance documentation.
The Million-dollar Fine
Credit Suisse Services AG, and by extension, UBS AG, agreed to cooperate with Department of Justice investigations and committed to disclose any information that leads to the discovery of additional accounts related to the United States.
The agreement imposes substantial financial penalties on Credit Suisse Services AG, consisting of a significant fine, restitution to the IRS, and forfeiture.
Credit Suisse Services AG has been ordered to pay USD 510,608,909 for penalties, restitution, forfeitures, and fines, according to the prosecutor’s report (1).
Guilty Plea Agreement
On May 5, 2025, Credit Suisse Services AG established a guilty plea in the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Virginia in the case against it for conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, specifically aiding and advising the preparation and filing of false tax returns.
Credit Suisse Services AG was a Swiss entity, sister to Credit Suisse AG and a subsidiary of Credit Suisse Group AG, which was acquired by UBS Group AG on June 12, 2023. On May 31, 2024, Credit Suisse AG merged with UBS AG, and following the merger and a subsequent transfer of all its shares from UBS Group AG to UBS Business Solutions AG (BUSO), it became a subsidiary of the latter, which in turn is a subsidiary of UBS Group AG.
The maximum penalties were established, along with the factual basis for the guilty plea, which relates to a previous guilty plea agreement from 2014 that was breached by Credit Suisse AG. This breach is central to this case, and the details are outlined in the agreement.
Source consulted:
1) U.S. Department of Justice (May 5, 2025). “Credit Suisse Services AG admits to conspiring with U.S. taxpayers to hide assets and income in offshore accounts and admits that Credit Suisse breached its previous guilty plea agreement.” Available at: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/credit-suisse-services-ag-admits-conspiring-us-taxpayers-hide-assets-and-income-offshore