ZURICH, Feb 4 — A new probe of Swiss bank Credit Suisse discovered 890 previously undisclosed accounts with potential Nazi links, a US senator said yesterday, amid efforts to shine a light on what he said was the bank’s hidden role in World War Two crimes.
Holders of the wartime accounts included the German Foreign Office, the SS paramilitary organization and a German arms-manufacturing company, US Republican Senator Chuck Grassley told reporters in a briefing.
He gave no details on how much money might have been held in the accounts and their current status.
The organizations were part of the Nazi apparatus under German leader Adolf Hitler that enabled the Holocaust, which killed about 6 million Jewish people.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Grassley chairs, heard yesterday more details on the investigation by US lawyer Neil Barofsky. Swiss bank UBS, which acquired Credit Suisse in an emergency takeover in 2023, hired him to handle the probe.
Barofsky led an earlier investigation when Credit Suisse was independent and said the bank sought to obstruct the effort and fired him.
Barofsky told the hearing yesterday that Credit Suisse was willing during the Nazi era to expropriate money from accounts held by Jewish people and transfer it to Nazi clients.
He said his review produced evidence that Credit Suisse’s banking relationships with the SS were more extensive than previously known, and the SS economic arm maintained an account at the bank, according to the testimony.
New details have also emerged on the bank’s connection to a scheme to help Nazis flee to Argentina, Barofsky said.
Both UBS and Credit Suisse apologised and reached a global settlement in 1999 that finalized all Nazi-era claims, including any future claims, and intended to end the controversy, UBS said, characterising the investigation as a voluntary initiative.
UBS said it accepts and deeply regrets that the World War Two era was a dark period in the history of Swiss banking.
When taking over Credit Suisse, UBS fully committed to getting the investigation back on track and has since taken extensive steps to facilitate Barofsky’s review, UBS Americas President Robert Karofskytold the hearing.
“Now, with three years of experience, our priority is to complete this review so that the world can benefit from the findings in the coming final report.”
The investigation is set to conclude by early summer, according to Senate Judiciary Committee aides, and a final report is expected at the end of the year. — Reuters
Nearly 900 Nazi-linked accounts discovered at Credit Suisse, US lawmaker says
