The so-called «Mozambique debt scandal» has been plaguing the former Credit Suisse since 2016. It involves loan transactions totaling more than 2 billion dollars that the bank arranged in 2013 with three Mozambican state-owned enterprises.

At the center of the indictment filed by the OAG is Credit Suisse's termination of a business relationship. According to an OAG statement published on Monday funds suspected of being illicit were transferred abroad without CS or its parent company submitting a suspicious activity report to the Money Laundering Report Office Switzerland. .

Criminal proceedings against another employee of the former CS, however, have been discontinued.

Money Laundering and Aiding and Aiding and Abetting Bribery

The bank is also accused of organizational shortcomings. The OAG launched an initial criminal investigation into the matter in 2020. This investigation is currently being conducted against two individuals on suspicion of money laundering and suspicion of aiding and abetting the bribery of foreign public officials.

In 2023, a second criminal investigation was opened based on findings from the first. This investigation concluded with the filing of the indictment on 25 November 2025, as stated.

Running Fee Ended Up in CS Accounts...

The case concerns business relationships between CS and a company described as a consulting and asset management firm. In spring 2016, approximately 7.86 million dollars were credited to the company's accounts at CS, transferred by Mozambique's Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The funds are suspected to have come from a «running fee» agreed upon between the company and the Mozambican state-owned enterprises, allegedly paid for services linked to the loan transactions.

...and Then Flowed Abroad

According to the indictment, the funds received from Mozambique were obtained - or facilitated - through corruption in the form of bribery of Mozambican public officials and disloyal conduct by public officers in Mozambique. Shortly after the funds were credited, 7 million dollars were transferred to bank accounts in the United Arab Emirates. The remaining funds also flowed abroad.

The indictment is directed against a former CS compliance employee. She was allegedly responsible for leading these reviews. «Although, according to the indictment, she had numerous indications suggesting a potentially criminal ongoing origin of the funds received from Mozambique, the compliance employee is said to have recommended to the executive management of CS and Credit Suisse Group that no report be filed with the Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS), but rather that the business relationship be closed,» the OAG writes.

Suspicious Activity Report Only Filed in 2019

CS did not file a money-laundering suspicion report with MROS until 2019. This only happened after the U.S. department of Justice (DOJ) publicly announced criminal proceedings related to the Mozambique loan transactions.

CS, or UBS as its legal successor, now stands accused of «failing to take all necessary and reasonable organizational measures to prevent the suspected money laundering» during the relevant period in 2016. According to the indictment, there were significant deficiencies at the time in risk management, compliance, and internal directives relating to anti-money-laundering efforts.

UBS Rejects OAG's Conclusions

UBS apparently intends to challenge the indictment. «We firmly reject the conclusions of the Office of the Attorney General and will vigorously defend our position,» a spokeswoman said.

The bank has previously demonstrated that it has its own distinct perspective on legal legacy issues inherited from Credit Suisse. In various proceedings, UBS lawyers argued that potential criminal liability cannot be transferred to a legal successor through a merger. UBS had already taken this position in the CS case known as the «Bulgaria connection».

Case Closed on Procedural Economy Grounds

The OAG has discontinued criminal proceedings against another accused CS employee with an order dated 25 November 2025. During the period in question, she headed the compliance department and was likewise part of the bank's executive management, as elaborated further. The employee had been convicted in March 2025 in a separate administrative criminal proceeding conducted by the Federal Department of Finance (FDF). The conviction is currently under appeal before the Federal Criminal Court and is not yet final.

The OAG has now discontinued its parallel indictment for reasons of procedural economy, as the accused faced largely the same factual allegations.

(Article updated with UBS's statement)