Credit Suisse Banker Faces Jail for Alleged Violations of Fiduciary Duties

Finance Magnates learned today that Swiss prosecutors have commenced legal proceedings against a suspended Credit Suisse banker who was accused of violating his fiduciary duties. The case has been brought by a number of wealthy Turkish families who claim they lost CHF 300 million ($296 million), according to a Reuters report.

These continued, extraordinary losses should have alarmed the bank.

Covered Up

Two independent Turkish asset managers who oversaw money for wealthy clients that was deposited in Credit Suisse accounts are suspected of illegally covering up losses linked to the Turkish lira's collapse in 2013. The suspended Credit Suisse employee was blamed for not putting a stop to transactions made by the Turkish asset managers, even though significant deficits continued to pile up.

A lawyer of one of the wealthy Turks who lost money in the alleged scam said: "These continued, extraordinary losses should have alarmed the bank”.

Nothing Wrong

The suspended Credit Suisse banker, who now faces prison in the event he is convicted in court claims he did nothing wrong and that he proceeded to clear transactions with his superiors.

According to Credit Suisse, no criminal proceeding has been opened against the bank. It said: "The current criminal investigation is not targeted at Credit Suisse, it is mainly focused on representatives of the Turkish fund managers' firm.”

The bank added: "We cannot comment on this matter in view of the ongoing investigation. Credit Suisse complies with all applicable laws and regulations in all countries in which it operates.”

Credit Suisse, which notified authorities in March 2015 after learning of the losses through one of the alleged Turkish victims, is reported to have earned around CHF 80 million ($79 million) in commissions from the transactions.