Legally, Credit Suisse Private Advisors is a separate entity from Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse Private Advisors is regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and is a securities dealer registered in Switzerland with Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

The Swiss bank will now integrate its small Zurich-based US offshore wealth-management unit into its onshore US operation.

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The move is expected to affect 10 bankers and support staff, a small fraction compared to the 550 jobs slated for redundancy after Credit Suisse announced its plan to fully integrate its private banking unit Clariden Leu earlier this month.

Commenting on the move to shutdown the Private Advisors team, Credit Suisse spokesman Alex Biscaro said, this was a strategic decision to improve the client experience while at the same time streamlining and optimizing the bank’s operations.

While this is no doubt one reason for the move, does not provide the whole picture and does not address the true impetus: Credit Suisse’s move was prompted by a series of crackdowns on Swiss banks for their alleged roles in helping rich US clients evade taxes by opening offshore accounts and creating sham companies.

In July of this year, the US Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation against Credit Suisse over the tax evasion issue.

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Credit Suisse is not the only Swiss bank to be scrutinized by US authorities. In 2009, UBS paid US$780 million to settle a tax evasion case brought by the US authorities.

Credit Suisse’s move has also sparked speculations in business circles that the bank has sealed a permanent deal with the US authorities to end all ongoingtax evasion disputes, which could have cost the Swiss banks millions of dollar in penalties.