CS Victims publish open letter to Tidjane Thiam to demand action from Credit Suisse

GENEVA, Dec. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CS Victims, a group of Credit Suisse Wealth Management clients who are victims of an estimated $1 billion fraud perpetrated by the bank's personnel, have published an open letter in The Times and The Daily Telegraph to Tidjane Thiam on the day of the Credit Suisse Investor Conference in London. The full version of the letter can be viewed at http://csvictims.com/open-letter-11-12-2019/

The letter states that in the four years since the discovery of the crimes, Credit Suisse have worked against the clients as they tried to obtain the facts behind the loss of their funds and how the fraud went undisovered for over seven years. In addition, it highlights Thiam's restructuring programme which placed Wealth Management at the centre of Credit Suisse's strategy and in the absence of any resolution, asks whether any client could trust the Bank.

The letter flags the fact that Credit Suisse has refused to repay the full amount of the funds to the defrauded clients, despite confiscated funds being allocated to the Bank for this purpose at the trial of the convicted Relationship Manager in 2018. It also asks the Bank to return the estimated $150m of commissions and fees paid to Credit Suisse on accounts on which criminal conduct took place.

Questions are also raised over Credit Suisse's systems and controls which failed to prevent or detect the crimes, as well as potential conflicts of interest around the purchase and sale of Credit Suisse's own products. The results of the internal investigation into the fraud have never been shared with the clients despite numerous requests.

"We are appealing directly to Mr. Thiam to start working with the defrauded clients to bring this situation to a satisfactory conclusion. It is unacceptable that Credit Suisse continues to refuse to provide answers to the victims of a crime which was perpetrated by their personnel," a spokesperson for CS Victims said. "We ask Mr. Thiam to explain how the crimes went undiscovered for over seven years, and ensure the immediate return of the full amount of the clients' funds along with the commissions and fees earned by the Bank as a direct result of illegal activities."

The letter comes at a sensitive time for Credit Suisse and Thiam as the Bank deals with a number of scandals. These include the ongoing trial of three ex-Credit Suisse bankers accused of bribery in a $2bn loan scandal in Mozambique, where the Bank allege the defendants hid their dealings from management. In addition, Pierre-Olivier Bouee, Credit Suisse's COO and a close ally of Thiam, was forced to step down in October following a corporate espionage scandal.

For further information, please contact [email protected] or visit https://csvictims.com/

SOURCE CS Victims