Credit Suisse handed $3.9m civil penalty by MAS for relationship managers' misconduct

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed a $3.9 million civil penalty on Credit Suisse for its failure to prevent or detect misconduct by relationship managers in its Singapore branch.

- Prisca Ang

Credit Suisse paid the penalty to the regulator immediately after it was imposed, and as part of the settlement, also separately compensated its affected clients, said MAS in a statement on Dec 28.

The relationship managers had provided clients with inaccurate or incomplete post-trade disclosures, resulting in clients being charged spreads that were above bilaterally agreed rates for 39 over-the-counter bond transactions.

When Credit Suisse executes such transactions requested by its clients, it charges a spread over the price obtained from the relevant interbank counterparties.

For some of the 39 transactions, the relationship managers had made false statements to clients about the executed interbank prices, spreads charged, or both.

They had also, in some cases, omitted material information that the spreads charged were above the agreed rates.

The enforcement action on Credit Suisse follows a review by MAS of pricing and disclosure practices in the private banking industry.