Credit Suisse Services, now part of UBS Group, has agreed to pay more than $510 million to settle two major US tax investigations, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday.

The resolution includes a guilty plea over helping US taxpayers hide billions in offshore Swiss accounts and a non-prosecution agreement over similar misconduct in Singapore.

Undeclared Assets

The plea deal brings to a close a saga that began long before UBS acquired its embattled rival. In total, Credit Suisse admitted to conspiring with American clients to conceal over $4 billion in at least 475 undeclared accounts in Switzerland and more than $2 billion in undeclared US assets booked in Singapore — even after the bank had entered into a guilty plea agreement with the DOJ in 2014 in which it promised to become fully compliant with U.S. tax regulations.

Back in January 2025, rumors published by the Wall Street Journal raised the impression that UBS might face a DOJ settlement exceeding $1 billion over these legacy issues (as finews.com reported). An imminent resolution was widely reported just days before the change in the US administration, prompting speculation about a last-minute legal push by outgoing officials.

More Moderate Settlement

Those rumors, it now appears, were inflated. The final outcome – $511 million – is less than feared. It includes $371.9 million tied to Swiss-based misconduct and $138.7 million relating to Singapore.

Two factors may explain the more moderate settlement. First, the January rumors preceded the new U.S. administration, which may have had different enforcement priorities. Second, with UBS’s takeover of Credit Suisse, the interest in prosecuting individual former bank managers may have faded.

Misconduct Continued Until 2021

The guilty plea confirms that Credit Suisse violated the terms of its 2014 plea agreement. That agreement had been defended before the US Congress by then-General Counsel Romeo Cerutti, who pledged robust compliance efforts and remained in charge of Credit Suisse's legal department until April 2022.

Yet the DOJ now says Credit Suisse bankers continued to assist Americans in evading taxes, including creating fake donation documents and misrepresenting account holders, well into 2021.

Singapore Link

Among the undisclosed US funds was reportedly money tied to Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who pursues separate litigation against Credit Suisse for alleged fraud in Singapore.

UBS stressed it was not involved in the misconduct and reiterated its «zero tolerance» stance on tax evasion. The bank expects to book a credit this quarter as part of a contingent liability release stemming from its acquisition of Credit Suisse, though UBS will also register a charge related to the resolution. 

Financial Implications Unclear

It remains unclear from the bank’s statement what the net financial impact of these two items will be.

UBS reported a net profit of $1.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025, as reported by finews.com. As of the end of March, UBS had set aside provisions of $1.32 billion for litigation, regulatory, and similar matters in private wealth management, slightly more than in the previous quarter ($1.27 billion).