On February 20, 2022, Süddeutsche Zeitung and an international consortium of 48 media organizations reported on an anonymous leak containing records from more than 30,000 Credit Suisse clients and over 18,000 accounts. The data, spanning the 1940s through 2010, identified more than CHF 100 billion—approximately US$108.5 billion—in nominee accounts. Investigators linked some account holders to allegations involving corruption, bribery, drug trafficking, human trafficking, war crimes, and tax evasion, raising questions about whether Credit Suisse adequately applied customer due diligence.
Credit Suisse strongly rejected allegations of systemic wrongdoing, arguing that 90% of the reviewed accounts had been closed or were being closed and that the reporting relied on partial information taken out of context. Switzerland’s financial regulator, FINMA, said it was in contact with the bank, while European lawmakers proposed reviewing Switzerland’s money-laundering status. The leak also exposed a structural press problem: Swiss law threatened anyone publishing banking data with up to five years in prison, limiting domestic reporting even when disclosure served the public interest. On March 2, 2022, Credit Suisse was reported to have asked investors to destroy documents related to securitized yacht loans to oligarchs, intensifying scrutiny of its compliance culture and secrecy practices.
