Credit Suisse has disclosed that it is under investigation by US regulators, including the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for its hiring practices in Asia.
The bank is being particularly probed for hiring referrals from government agencies and other state-owned entities in order to secure investment banking business and regulatory approvals, which flouts the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
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The bank made the disclosure in its 2017 results, which revealed a net loss of CHF983m ($1.06bn) owing to a CHF2.3bn ($2.5bn) writedown related to the US tax rule overhaul.
The disclosure did not specifically name the Asian countries involved. The Swiss bank said that it is cooperating with the regulators on the issue.
JPMorgan and its Hong Kong unit were fined $264m in November 2016 by US regulators for hiring relatives of Chinese government officials to win business.
Earlier, HSBC also faced a probe by the SEC for hiring candidates “referred by or related to government officials or employees of state-owned enterprises in Asia-Pacific”.
