Some of the Swiss firm's bankers reportedly nixed Sanjeev Gupta. That didn't stop Credit Suisse management from signing off on billions in business with him elsewhere. 

Credit Suisse's trade finance bankers put Sanjeev Gupta's (pictured below) Liberty Commodities on an internal black list in 2016 over concerns his business dealings weren't legitimate, «Bloomberg» (behind paywall) reported on Friday. The trade finance department would be the first port of call for a commodities outfit such as Gupta's seeking financing.

It didn't stop there: when investment bankers in the trade finance department learned that companies controlled by Gupta were granted more than $10 billion in credit through a series of investment funds, they alerted compliance executives, according to the news agency. This move failed to prompt a reversal of Credit Suisse's dealings with Gupta, which ended in disaster.

Doubts Over Documents

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The trade financiers grew wary in part because of documents provided by Gupta companies which they viewed as suspicious. Their concern was backed internally by investment bankers in Credit Suisse's credit structuring department, as «The Wall Street Journal» (behind paywall) reported last month.

Internal Tussle

The stunning news that Gupta and his entities were controversial within Credit Suisse comes as the Swiss bank grapples with the fallout from a line of funds it co-managed with Greensill and which imploded in March. 

When Credit Suisse pulled the plug on the funds, Greensill collapsed within days, sending Gupta's collection of debt-financed industrial assets into a tailspin. The bank's fortunes are now directly tied to Gupta, whose business is being probed by fraud investigators. Gupta's business has denied wrong-doing.