Banks Former Credit Suisse concealed Nazi accounts according to US Senate
The former Credit Suisse withheld information during investigations in the 1990s into bank accounts belonging to Nazis during the Second World War. This was the result of an investigation carried out by a US Senate committee.
04.01.2025, 22:31
04.01.2025, 22:44
SDA
"Tens of thousands of documents discovered as a result of the Committee's investigation (...) provide new evidence of the existence of holders of Nazi-related accounts that were previously unknown or only partially known," the Senate Budget Committee said in a statement on Saturday.
The bank had failed to disclose the existence of these accounts in previous investigations, particularly those conducted in the 1990s.
The revelations follow the discoveries of former prosecutor Neil Barofsky, who was appointed ombudsman of Credit Suisse (CS) in 2021. Barofsky was dismissed from CS in 2022 after the bank "exerted pressure (...) for him to curtail his investigation", the Senate committee argues.
Reinstated after dismissal
However, Barofsky was reinstated in 2023 after Credit Suisse was taken over by rival UBS.
Barofsky's team discovered records that led to the identification of other clients with Nazi connections, including an account controlled by high-ranking SS officers, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Credit Suisse did not always share the information it had, Barofsky wrote in a letter sent to the U.S. Senate committee in mid-December and made public on Saturday. "My team has worked closely with Credit Suisse to ensure that all relevant portions of its archives that still exist are included in the investigation," Barofsky continued to write.
UBS wants to cooperate
Contacted by the AFP news agency, UBS said it was committed to contributing to a full accounting of old Nazi-related accounts previously held at Credit Suisse's predecessor banks.
UBS said it would provide Neil Barofsky with "any assistance necessary" to "allow him to continue to shed light on this tragic period of history through this investigation".
The US Senate Committee's investigation is still ongoing.
In 1998, Swiss banks in the US reached a settlement over the dormant assets and paid 1.25 billion dollars to Holocaust survivors.
