Credit Suisse Group AG will pay $196 million to settle charges that it violated US securities law by providing cross-border financial services for US clients without registering with regulators.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission says the Swiss bank provided these services to thousands of US clients over a seven-year period. Regulators say the bank began to curb this practice in 2008 after a civil and criminal investigation into similar conduct by Swiss-based UBS.
While the bank knew it was violating securities law, the SEC says it took Credit Suisse until 2013 to completely exit the business.
Credit Suisse agreed to the payment and admit wrongdoing to settle the SEC’s charges.
The bank is still facing a Department of Justice investigation into tax-related issues associated with the business.