The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) imposed a 3.9 million Singapore dollars (U.S. $3 million) penalty on Credit Suisse for failing to detect misconduct by relationship managers at its Singapore branch.
The fine, announced Thursday, was levied after the MAS found Credit Suisse relationship managers provided false or incorrect information, or omitted key information, to private banking clients in post-trade disclosures affecting 39 over-the-counter bond transactions. The misconduct was discovered during an MAS review of pricing and disclosure practices in the private banking industry.
Credit Suisse admitted liability as part of the settlement and paid the fine, the MAS said.
Compliance considerations: MAS found the bank failed to put in place adequate controls, such as post-trade monitoring, to detect or prevent the misconduct. The bank has “since strengthened its internal controls to prevent the recurrence of such misconduct,” the regulator said.
“Financial institutions should implement robust governance frameworks and processes to ensure fair and transparent pricing to their customers,” said Ho Hern Shin, MAS deputy managing director of financial supervision, in the release. “We will continue to engage the banks to improve their controls in this area and will not hesitate to take firm enforcement action against financial institutions found to have breached our laws.”
In October, Credit Suisse was reportedly alerted it is under MAS investigation for potentially failing to properly monitor wealthy clients involved in a $2 billion money laundering scandal.
In March, amid financial turmoil caused by U.S. bank failures, Swiss regulators ordered Credit Suisse to merge with its larger competitor, UBS. On Dec. 7, the two banks announced a definitive merger agreement.
UBS did not respond to a request for comment.
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