Dutch lead global raid on Credit Suisse

[rmstock]

Cash Crunch Eases for Credit Suisse CEO Thiam


TAX EVASION
Dutch lead global raid on Credit Suisse
Mar 31, 2017 - 12:12
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/tax-evasion_dutch-lead-global-raid-on-credit-suisse/43074598

   
   Switzerland's financial centre has seen many tax evasion probes in recent years
   (Keystone)
   
  "Swiss bank Credit Suisse is at the centre of a major Dutch-led
   investigation into suspected tax evasion, also involving Britain,
   Germany, France and Australia. Gold bars, paintings, cash, real estate
   and other assets, worth several million francs, have been seized.
   
   The Dutch authorities said they had received a tip-off relating to
   55,000 accounts at an unnamed bank. But Credit Suisse on Friday
   confirmed that its offices in several countries had been "contacted" by
   local authorities and that it was cooperating with investigations.
   
   Australian authorities said they had identified 340 individuals with
   connections to Swiss banking staff who had actively facilitated tax
   evasion schemes. The bank in question was not named.
   
   "The first phase of the investigation, which will see further,
   targeted, activity over the coming weeks, is focused on senior
   employees from within the institution, along with a number of its
   customers," the British tax authority said in a statement.
   
   Dutch investigators said they had arrested two people and are following
   3,800 suspect accounts.
   
   Swiss shunned
   
   Meanwhile, the Swiss Attorney General's office expressed concern that
   it had been left out of the loop in the investigation.
   
   "The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland is disconcerted
   about the manner in which this has been organised with the conscious
   non-inclusion of Switzerland," it said in an emailed statement to
   Reuters. "The attorney general expects a written explanation from the
   relevant leading Dutch authorities and is examining further actions."
   
   Dutch authorities said on Friday that they had left Swiss authorities
   out of a tax fraud investigation stemming from secret Swiss bank
   accounts because no Swiss citizens were suspects, Reuters reported.
   
   It is not yet known whether other Swiss banks have been caught up in
   the operation. The Dutch investigation is ongoing, as it is in other
   countries.
   
   More reactions
   
   The European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit, Eurojust, which exists
   to coordinate investigation and prosecution proceedings among member
   states, stated that the Dutch probe began last year.
   
   "Eurojust held three coordination meetings, attended by participants
   from the involved States, to share information and devise a strategy
   for the action day," read a press release.
   
   "More actions are expected in the coming weeks. International
   cooperation will be intensified, and the roles that possible service
   providers have played will be examined."
   
   Credit Suisse said later on Friday that it had launched an internal
   probe. "The investigation will be executed by compliance, it will not
   be executed by the business," Iqbal Khan, who is responsible for Credit
   Suisse's private banking operations outside Switzerland and Asia
   Pacific, told Reuters.
   
   "If any individuals are implicated or have violated against these
   processes or procedures or policies that are in place then we will
   identify that very quickly."
   
   swissinfo.ch/mga "



Cash Crunch Eases for Credit Suisse CEO Thiam
by Jan-Henrik Foerster  and Darren Boey
Tuesday March 28, 03:32:37 GMT+0200 2017 Corrected Tuesday March 28, 11:26:31 GMT+0200 2017
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-28/credit-suisse-ceo-says-considering-options-to-plug-capital-hole

  " * CEO Tidjane Thiam outlines progress bank made in last year
   
    * Considering options beyond Swiss bank listing to raise capital
   
   

   Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam discusses the bank's performance and capital raising options.
   Source: Bloomberg
   
   Credit Suisse Group AG said its capital buffers are strong enough to
   consider alternatives to an initial public offering of the Swiss bank
   unit, signaling it may be open to selling stock to retain full
   ownership of its most-profitable business.
   
   Advances that Switzerland's second-largest lender has made over the
   past year include $1.9 billion of cost cuts, a higher capital ratio and
   a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over its sales of toxic
   mortgage debt, CEO Tidjane Thiam said in an interview with Bloomberg
   Television on Tuesday. That progress is allowing the bank to weigh a
   range of options, he said.
   
   Eighteen months into its restructuring, Credit Suisse is seeking ways
   to plug a hole of as much as 4 billion francs ($4 billion) amid
   surprise trading losses, legacy issues, market turmoil and tougher
   capital requirements. The bank is considering selling stock valued at
   more than 3 billion Swiss francs as an alternative to the IPO, people
   with knowledge of the matter said last week.
   
   "The IPO was a capital backstop and we were clear about that in
   February" when the bank announced its full-year results, Thiam told
   Bloomberg Television's Yvonne Man. "Now we've made so much progress
   that we can consider other options," he said.
   
   Thiam, 54, declined to elaborate on specific proposals his board is
   considering. Credit Suisse isn't talking to investment banks, he said.
   
   Like other big European lenders, Credit Suisse is reining in spending
   under pressure from low interest rates and rules requiring banks to
   hold more reserves. When Thiam began overhauling the bank in late 2015,
   Credit Suisse had a capital gap of between 9 billion francs and 11
   billion francs. The firm has since tapped shareholders for 6 billion
   francs and had said it would seek to address further capital needs
   through listing its Swiss universal bank.
   
   Speculation Building
   
   Speculation that the firm would look at alternative capital-raising
   plans has been building in recent months as its shares rallied almost
   50 percent since July. The climb makes a stock sale an attractive
   alternative, analysts at UBS Group AG said in February. At the same
   time, analysts such as Peter Casanova at Kepler Cheuvreux have said it
   should back away from the IPO plans, saying it's not in shareholders'
   interests "to sell the bank's crown jewel."
   
   The Swiss universal bank delivered the biggest contribution to pretax
   profit in the fourth quarter, with 382 million francs.
   
   
   
   David Herro, chief investment officer of Harris Associates, one of
   Credit Suisse's top three shareholders, said this month he doesn't
   think the company requires either a stock sale or the Swiss IPO.
   
   "There's a range of views which shows you that it's a complex decision,
   which is why were taking our time to make it," Thiam said. "I'm pleased
   we've made so much progress that there are serious investors who think
   we don't need to raise capital."
   
   In an interview with Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft last week,
   Thiam said he hopes to make a decision on capital options as soon as
   possible. Credit Suisse's annual meeting with shareholders is scheduled
   for April 28.
   
   "We know the market wants an answer, we know the market needs an
   answer, we're working diligently and we will give a very clear answer
   in due course," Thiam said in the Bloomberg TV interview, on the
   sidelines of his firm's annual Asian Investment Conference in Hong
   Kong.
   
   Thiam signaled a slowing of cost cuts: After about 2 billion francs
   last year, the bank will probably shed another billion this year and "a
   bit less than" 1 billion next year, he said. Credit Suisse has a target
   of 4.3 billion francs in gross cost savings by the end of 2018 and said
   in February that it plans to cut between 5,500 and 6,500 jobs this year.
   
   Credit Suisse rose as much as 1.1 percent to 14.83 francs in Zurich
   trading on Tuesday and traded at 14.72 francs as of 11:15 am.
   
   "2016 we hope was the toughest year in terms of cuts," Thiam said.
   "There are more cuts this year, a few more next year, but we're
   starting to come out of that period."
   
   In Asian equities, the bank shed some jobs in the first quarter, with
   plans for more reductions in the second quarter, Thiam said at a press
   conference after the interview. "Hopefully after that, most of it will
   be done."
   
   (Updates with analyst comment in seventh paragraph. An earlier version
   of this story was corrected to change reference to job cuts in 2nd and
   11th paragraphs.) "

[rmstock]

Here's a part of a comment i made on the Dutch Election Results
analysis posted on ZeroHedge :

Dutch Election Results Confirm 'Far Right Populism' Still On The Rise In Europe
by Tyler Durden
Mar 20, 2017 3:30 AM

  "[ ... ]
   2. The liberal right wing VVD and its leader Mark Rutte had a coalition
   cabinet with the socialist left wing labor party PvdA for over four
   years from 2012-2017. Not only were their party programs in almost all
   aspects confrontational, in the senate both parties combined could not
   reach a majority of votes, even if a cabinet coalition European Union
   party line vote was demanded. Most of the time a third party D66 would
   help out, to pass and ratify critical EU legislation. Several problems
   popped up in Parliament, the most prominent one where the Department of
   Justice was charged with the illegal laundering of money obtained
   through crime. In the late 1990's the Dutch Justice Department made `a
   deal' with a Dutch Crime boss `Cees H.' to pay him 4.7 million Dutch
   Guilders (Dfl.), whereby the Dutch IRS explicitly was circumvented and
   not notified of this financial transaction. Two successive Ministers of
   Justice, Ivo Opstelten and Ard van der Steur, were forced to resign for
   hiding and covering this up. In both cases also Prime Minister Mark
   Rutte aided and abetted these cover-up attempts. The entire Kingdom of
   the Netherlands and all of its citizens have been witness of this on
   Dutch Television. The legitimacy , approval rating if you will, of the
   VVD, which exclusively had control over the entire Justice Department,
   and in particular Prime Minister Mark Rutte had absolutely plummeted
   below zero just prior to election day. How can such a party then win
   the elections ?
   [ ... ]"

[rmstock]

A Dutch translation and no more striking description for the acronym of
the largest political party in the Netherlands, the VVD, as of recent
has become `Vereniging Van Dieven', which translates into `Association
Of Thieves'. Shortly before the Dutch elections of 2017, the second VVD
Justice Minister in succession was fired, for covering up crime by the
Justice Department.

As Wilders Surges in Polls Dutch PM [Rutte] Ramps Up Migrant Rhetoric
January 23, 2017, 04:38:30 PM

The case of money laundering by the Justice Department has been completely
documented by the Oosting Commission :

https://crashrecovery.org/daily/26.01.2017/
https://crashrecovery.org/daily/26.01.2017/Commissie-Oosting/

[rmstock]

NOS Journaal Presentatie van het rapport van de commissie Oosting
by rmstock , Published on Dec 9, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq4Aks8Aq7c
  "NOS Journaal Extra
   Presentatie van het rapport van de commissie Oosting
   Wo 9 dec 2015 14:30
   Informatief en Nieuws/actualiteiten
   http://www.npo.nl/nos-journaal/09-12-...
   Presentatie van het rapport van de commissie Oosting (over
   Teeven-deal). Live verslag van de aanbieding van het Rapport Oosting.
   De commissie onderzoekt de zaak waarvoor Ivo Opstelten en Fred Teeven
   moesten aftreden als minister en staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en
   Justitie. Er zal worden gekeken naar allerlei aspecten van het akkoord
   dat toenmalig officier van justitie Teeven in 2000 sloot met een
   drugscrimineel. Het gaat dan onder meer over de juridische
   houdbaarheid, het bedrag en de geheimhouding. "