Credit Suisse Suffers Sizeable Loss After US Tax Evasion Settlement

Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse has suffered a sizeable loss in the second quarter, impacted by the 1.6bn Swiss franc charge taken following a May settlement with US authorities over tax evasion charges.

Credit Suisse reported a net loss of 700m francs ($779m, £456m, €576m) for the three-month period ended 30 June, as against a net profit of 1.05bn francs a year ago. A Reuters poll of analysts forecast a 581m franc net loss.

The Zurich-based firm also said that second-quarter net revenue slipped 6% to 6.43bn francs.

Credit Suisse's stock was trading 0.65% lower at 0914 CEST in Zurich.

Pre-tax profit at its investment bank fell 11% to 1 billion francs, Credit Suisse said in a statement, as overall strategic sales and trading revenue fell 7%.

In private banking and wealth management, net new assets from wealth management clients hovered at 7.4bn francs, down marginally from 7.7bn francs a year ago.

Credit Suisse Chief Executive Brady Dougan said in the statement: "With the final settlement of all outstanding US cross-border matters as announced in May, we brought to a close the most significant and longstanding litigation issue for Credit Suisse.I want to reiterate that we deeply regret the past misconduct that led to this settlement and that we take full responsibility for it.

"The continued trust and support of our clients helped us mitigate the impact of the settlement on our business."

In May 2014, Credit Suisse agreed to pay a $2.6bn fine after pleading guilty to assisting US clients evade taxes.

An unrelenting assault on once-hallowed Swiss banking secrecy strictures was kicked off in 2007 at UBS, which later agreed a $780m deferred prosecution agreement with the US.