The Swiss bank Credit Suisse found information on more than 100 previously unknown accounts belonging to the Nazis or associated with them. Some of these accounts were in operation until 2020, the US Senate Budget Committee said in a statement.
Credit Suisse initiated an internal investigation after human rights activists accused the bank of opening accounts for the Nazis, including after World War II, and did not disclose information about them even during investigations related to the Holocaust. The investigation was carried out by a firm hired by the bank, under the supervision of an independent ombudsman, who, however, was removed without explanation during the audit.
“The information we have received indicates that the bank has set unnecessarily rigid and narrow limits [in the investigation] and has refused to investigate new evidence uncovered during the audit,” said Chuck Grassley, member of the Budget Committee. According to him, the bank agreed to conduct a new investigation.
Consulting firm AlixPartners said it would look into post-1945 accounts held by Nazis after 1945, as well as look into Credit Suisse's alleged role in supporting Nazi fugitives.
The bank, which is headquartered in Zurich, released a statement saying that an investigation already carried out found no evidence for the main accusation made by the human rights organization Simon Wiesenthal Center. This accusation concerns the fact that the accounts maintained by Credit Suisse contained money taken from the victims of the Holocaust.
In 1998, Credit Suisse Group and Union Bank of Switzerland AG, threatened with US sanctions, agreed to pay $1.25 billion in a class action lawsuit involving Nazi accounts.
