Credit Suisse links to Nazi-era accounts expand in investigation

María Paula Mijares Torres, Bloomberg News on Jan 4, 2025

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Investigators looking into Credit Suisse’s connections to Nazi-era account holders uncovered new evidence that the bank failed to disclose during earlier probes, U.S. Senate Budget Committee leaders said Saturday.

Neil Barofsky, an independent ombudsman overseeing the review, found new documents during the first comprehensive examination of records from a Credit Suisse internal research department that includes client information from periods including World War II.

Among the findings are several hundred alleged intermediaries who helped Nazis “hide gold, camouflage illicit transactions to purchase war materials, loot Jewish assets, including through the aryanization of Jewish businesses, and generally support the Nazi war economy,” Barofsky said in a letter to the panel dated Dec. 17.

The team found numerous client files stamped “Amerikanische Schwarze Liste” — German for “American black list” — a designation used by the World War II allies to flag “individuals and companies that were directly financed by, or were known to regularly trade with, Axis powers.”

Barofsky, a former inspector general of the U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program, was removed as ombudsman by Credit Suisse in November 2022 and reinstated in late 2023, after Credit Suisse was bought by UBS Group AG.

“Since UBS acquired Credit Suisse in June 2023, we have made it a priority to ensure that the review is thorough and comprehensive and have reengaged Neil Barofsky as Independent Ombudsman accordingly,” a UBS spokesperson said Saturday in an email. “We are providing all necessary assistance to facilitate his work to continue to shed more light on this tragic period in history through the review conducted.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who chairs the Budget Committee, praised UBS for taking action to “ensure a thorough review of all relevant records.”

“As today’s update from Mr. Barofsky makes clear, UBS’s response to our investigation is already bearing fruit,” Whitehouse said in the statement.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the panel’s top Republican, welcomed “the newfound cooperation of Credit Suisse, under UBS’s leadership” while criticizing that Credit Suisse “hid additional evidence of Nazi ties for years.” Barofsky found that Credit Suisse “did not always share information that it knew” with previous investigations, the two senators said.

The probe also exposed evidence showing a “significant connection” between Credit Suisse and so-called ratlines —networks that helped Nazi war criminals and collaborators escape after World War II.

Investigators identified Credit Suisse accounts for more than three dozen individuals connected to the ratlines, Barofsky said in his letter.