The Swiss bank is being fined in Hong Kong over investment banking dealings. Credit Suisse reported itself to authorities for some of the transgressions.
The Securities and Futures Commission is fining the Swiss-based bank HK$2.8 million (roughly $357,000) for misleading research reports on securities listed in Hong Kong, the regulator said in a statement on Wednesday.
As recently as 2016, Credit Suisse failed to disclose that it maintained an investment banking relationship with the subject of some research reports, the SFC said. The bank in 2016 fixed a technology glitch that was partly responsible for the error, the regulator noted.
«Credit Suisse Hong Kong and Credit Suisse AG [its Swiss parent company] have failed to put in place effective systems and controls to ensure compliance with the disclosure requirements and timely detection of the disclosure failures,» the SFC said.
Repeat Offender
The bank's move to report itself softened the potential penalty SFC could have imposed. Credit Suisse also ran into trouble in the region last year, when it paid almost $80 million in the U.S. and Hong Kong to avoid being criminally prosecuted over its hiring practices.
Credit Suisse takes its regulatory responsibilities very seriously and has fully cooperated with the SFC during its investigation, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday. Credit Suisse has taken appropriate action to ensure that Credit Suisse’s legal and regulatory obligations are upheld at all times and to prevent repetition of these incidents. The resolution announced by the SFC does not place any constraints on Credit Suisse’s business activities in Hong Kong or elsewhere, the bank added.
Crosstown rival UBS was also sanctioned in Hong Kong three months ago for how it ran initial stock listings. More recently, UBS was shut out of a Chinese bond deal amid controversy over comments from its chief economist.
