Trillion-Dollar Bank Pays $2,950,000 Fine for Lying to Institutional Clients, Overcharging Customers

A banking giant with $1.80 trillion in assets under management is paying a multi-million dollar civil penalty for making false statements to clients and overcharging customers.

In a press release, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) says it’s hitting Credit Suisse with a $3.9 million SGD ($2.90 million) fine for failing to stop illegal practices enforced by the bank’s relationship managers.

The regulatory agency says the bank’s relationship managers repeatedly violated Singapore’s Securities and Futures Act (SFA) by explicitly overcharging institutional customers and omitting certain information to cover up the misconduct.

Specifically, the MAS zeroes in on over-the-counter bond transactions where Credit Suisse’s relationship managers lied about the costs involved in executing the trades, leading the clients to pay more than they should have.

The employees also concealed key details that would have revealed that the charges were above the bilaterally agreed rates.

The MAS notes that the bank had failed to establish internal controls, including post-trade monitoring, that would have prevented the bad behavior of its employees.

MAS Deputy Managing Director Ms. Ho Hern Shi says,

“Financial institutions should implement robust governance frameworks and processes to ensure fair and transparent pricing to their customers. We will continue to engage the banks to improve their controls in this area and will not hesitate to take firm enforcement action against financial institutions found to have breached our laws.”

In response, Credit Suisse immediately settled the civil penalty, admitted liability and strengthened its internal controls.

The troubled bank was acquired by UBS back in June and says it will continue to operate as a “bank within a bank,” maintaining its services and client relations as usual.