Swiss bank Credit Suisse hid its closer than previously believed ties to the Nazis by withholding information about Nazi-linked bank accounts and partially obstructing investigations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing documents reviewed from previously closed archives.
In 2021, independent ombudsman Neil Barofsky launched a new investigation into the bank's ties to the Nazis, but was later dismissed by Credit Suisse because its management believed that he crossed the boundaries they wanted to set in the investigation.
Barofsky was later reinstated and continued his work, which resulted in the first discovery of documents from dozens of individuals and entities linked to Nazi atrocities. Specifically, a preliminary search of 99 known Nazis and their associates yielded 13 matches.
The new investigation found that Credit Suisse hid its role, not always sharing what it knew, the newspaper said.
Two similar independent commissions convened in the 1990s concluded that Swiss bankers often neglected the theft of Jewish assets by the Nazis during the World War II and thwarted subsequent attempts of victims of Nazi persecution and their relatives to get their money back.
Following the investigation in the 1990s, Credit Suisse and UBS agreed to pay $1.25 billion in compensation to Holocaust survivors and their descendants.