UK’s FCA puts Credit Suisse on watchlist in need of stricter supervision -FT By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured on the Credit Suisse bank in Geneva, Switzerland, June 9, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

(Reuters) -The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has put Credit Suisse on a watchlist of institutions in need of stricter supervision, the Financial Times reported late on Sunday, citing a letter sent in May.

The regulator told the Swiss bank last month the step had been taken because of concern the bank had not made enough improvements to its culture, governance and risk controls, the report said.

The bank’s addition to the watchlist, which consists of 20 or so institutions at any one time out of the around 60,000 the FCA monitors, hints the regulator has serious concerns, the FT said, citing a person familiar with the operation of the list.

Credit Suisse was fined about $475 million last year by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and FCA, to resolve bribery and fraud charges relating to a $2 billion Mozambican corruption scandal.

The FCA has also asked Credit Suisse’s senior executives to give evidence of steps the bank would take to prevent instances of misconduct and to improve accountability, the newspaper said.

In the May letter, FCA said it asked the lender to conduct reviews in the second half of the year on the effectiveness of its international board, risk and audit committees. FCA made these review requests after consultation with the Swiss regulator Finma, according to the report.

The regulator said in the letter it also has concerns on whether the bank adequately reported conduct rules being breached for a number of years, the FT report added.

Credit Suisse racked up a 1.6 billion Swiss franc ($1.62 billion) loss last year when it was hit by the implosion of investment fund Archegos and the collapse of $10 billion in SCFFs linked to insolvent British financier Greensill.

The FCA and Credit Suisse both declined to comment on the report, with the bank saying “we do not comment on our discussions with regulators, nor would it be appropriate for us to do so.”

($1 = 0.9870 Swiss francs)