Watchdog SEC set to hit Credit Suisse with new charges of inflated asset reports
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is gearing up to file charges against Credit Suisse, the Financial Times reports.
The watchdog is accusing the Swiss private bank of inflating reports of assets under management, sources have told the newspaper.
The SEC will accuse the bank of wrongly having counted client assets in the Americas as net new assets from 2012.
The allegations of inflated asset reports were first raised in February 2014, when the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations flagged up internal emails asking whether money could be counted in a different region to bolster quarterly figures. The subcommittee accused the bank of trying to present an improperly positive image to investors.
Credit Suisse flagged this up as a potential legal risk in its 2014 annual report, and stated that it has since tightened up its asset reporting.
The bank is also facing possible fines from the SEC over allegedly misleading clients about its dark pool trading venue as the bank is ready for a shakeup under new chief executive Tidjane Thiam, appointed earlier this year.
Sources stressed to the Financial Times that the bank had not broken any accounting rules, as the rules do not specify how net new assets should be treated.
Both the SEC and Credit Suisse have declined to comment on the reports.