Credit Suisse probed by various authorities

Swiss bank Credit Suisse has revealed that it is to join Barclays, UBS and Deutsche Bank in being probed over its alternative trading dark pools.

Credit Suisse probed by various authorities

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In its second quarter financial report, the bank said it is responding to inquiries from “various governmental and regulatory authorities” over its dark pools, which are privately run securities exchanges designed largely for the use of institutional investors who want to make trades without alerting the wider market.

The bank also said it was among “more than thirty defendants” named in US District Court in April alleging violations of US securities laws related to high-frequency trading.

The news came alongside figures that revealed “substantial progress” for the company, as it winds up a CHF1.6 billion (£1bn, €1.3bn, €1.8bn) litigation settlement charge over US cross-border matters.

The company saw strategic business net income of CHF1.28bn and an equity return of 13% which chairman Urs Rohner and chief executive Brady Dougan said demonstrated the “resilience” of the company’s business model in spite of “subdued client trading activity” in certain areas.

They added that they “deeply regret” and take “full responsibility” for the company’s past misconduct, which saw it plead guilty of “conspiracy to assist US customers in presenting false income tax returns”.

As a result of the settlement, the company’s strategic businesses in private banking and wealth management saw a pre-tax loss of CHF749m for the second quarter of 2014, a dramatic change from the CHF1bn profit in Q1.

It also saw a 1% drop in net revenue, from CHF6.47bn in Q1 to CHF6.43bn in Q2.

However, it reported net new asset growth of 4% in its strategic businesses, bringing in CHF10.1bn in new assets during the quarter, bringing AUM to CHF1,329.7bn.

It said this was driven by growth in the Asia Pacific and Switzerland.

The fine came as a result of a four year investigation into advice given to some US clients of Credit Suisse’s Swiss banking entity, Credit Suisse AG.

On Monday, Deutsche Bank and UBS also revealed that they were being hit by regulatory probes following increased scrutiny and ongoing investigations into their dark pools.

Last month, Barclays were sued by the New York Attorney General sued Barclays over allegations that investors were left exposed to predatory trading practices in relation to its Dark Pool.
 

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