ACRION CASEPOINT | CREDIT SUISSE AML FAILURE CASE

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has indicted a former Credit Suisse Compliance Officer and alleges that Credit Suisse and its parent companies failed to prevent money laundering due to serious organisational shortcomings.

The case involves funds linked to loans to Mozambican state-owned companies. Despite multiple indicators suggesting criminal origin, the bank terminated the client relationship and transferred remaining funds abroad without filing a suspicious transaction report to MLROs.

Key lessons for compliance professionals:
• Offboarding a client does not remove the duty to file a Suspicious Activity Report.
• Compliance Officers may face personal liability for AML negligence.
• Weak governance and escalation processes can amount to organisational AML deficiencies.
• Institutions must ensure that end-of-relationship procedures do not enable the movement of illicit funds.
• A strong AML framework must operate consistently across onboarding, monitoring and termination.

This case underscores a fundamental principle:
AML failures are often governance failures — and regulators are increasingly holding both institutions and individuals accountable.

For more details, see the official communication from the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland:
https://www.bundesanwaltschaft.ch/en/newnsb/4gw8CbcWrf9y9WTv8r_Up

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