When the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) concluded its enforcement proceedings against Credit Suisse over the Greensill case in February 2023, the resulting report remained confidential. The bank was accused of having «seriously breached its regulatory obligations with regard to risk management and appropriate business organization».

A court case in London has now granted partial access to the Finma report. Japan's Softbank, which was sued by Credit Suisse for damages of 440 million dollars in connection with Greensill, has introduced parts of the report as evidence to strengthen its defense. Various British media have now also gained access to the submitted documents via a corresponding request for access to the files.

Documents reveal that Credit Suisse executives misled the bank and the supervisory authority about the collapse of Greensill Capital, writes the British newspaper «The Guardian», citing the documents.

Early Warnings Disregarded

CS managers had already been warned against doing business with the company three years before the collapse of the former major Swiss bank by Australian businessman Lex Greensill. The manager's «judgment of character» had also been called into question.

These anonymous warnings were forwarded to Lex Greensill by a manager. «People in CS are receiving anonymous emails... seriously, you need to rethink your communication strategy!», he added.

According to the Finma report, the business relationship between CS and Lex Greensill caused «immense reputational damage» for the bank, the «Financial Times» quotes. CS had «naively» relied on information from Greensill in order to continue the partnership. In addition, inquiries to Credit Suisse regarding the metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta and Greensill were «sometimes answered incompletely, misleadingly or incorrectly».

Critical Questions Met with Resistance

«Critical questions were repeatedly met with resistance from the bank and its top management, even when they were repeatedly asked by the supervisory authority. This behavior is difficult to understand», Finma continued.

The Finma report also highlights Greensill's practice of reporting co-called future receivables - that is, hypothetical future income. The bank was not in a position to distinguish between this and actual future income.

In April 2020, an employee who inquired with a senior colleague about the practice of financing future receivables was told that «everything was fine» because the issue had been discussed with Lex Greensill. The employee replied: «Hmmm. I'm not sure I find that very reassuring at the moment.».