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Further details on the Greensill debacle came to light on Monday. In November, there will be legal proceedings in Australia in which Credit Suisse will seek compensation from the supply chain fund's insurers. The proceedings are being seen as a test case as to whether the bank can push through its claims, as most insurers, including Japan's Tokio Marine, are not expecting to have to pay anything out.

2. US DoJ

Recent developments in the US are ominous. According to various media reports, the US Department of Justice is investigating whether the bank helped citizens hide assets from authorities in the eight years after it paid a $2.6 billion fine for tax evasion. 

According to the reports, investigators are looking into whether the bank helped US account holders, in particular those with South American passports, conceal hundreds of millions of dollars from the Internal Revenue Service. Authorities were said to have relied on tips from within the bank. The allegations, which originated among Washington DC government insiders, are by themselves nothing new.

Credit Suisse denies improper conduct and says it is cooperating with authorities including the US Senate and Justice Department. Although the bank no longer has a monitor in place from the original settlement, it is clear that any repeat infraction would result in what would likely be a severe, even draconian, punishment.

3. Class Action

Various class action lawsuits have been filed in connection to Greensill and the Archegos family office collapse. Although none of them have reached the courts yet, they are also not going to disappear in thin air. Moreover, Swiss regulator Finma has live enforcement proceedings related to both Greensill and Archegos and both could be used as evidence depending on the outcome.

4. Tuna Fish Bonds

The fallout is not yet over following the $475 million settlement and fine reached in October 2021 related to the Mozambique scandal, which goes back to 2013 when UK-based Credit Suisse subsidiaries granted loans worth $1 billion to two Mozambican state-owned companies. Some of the funds, which were supposed to be used to strengthen the country's coast guard and create a tuna fishing fleet, were diverted by corrupt officials. Consequently, any admission of fault in the US related to the tax evasion case, which the FBI is still investigating, could have unforeseen ramifications.

In 2019, Mozambique's attorney general filed a lawsuit at the Commercial Court in London, naming Credit Suisse along with three of its former bankers, among others. The bank, for its part, felt it had been deceived by its ex-employees and filed a counterclaim at the High Court in London in early 2020 claiming damages against Mozambique for guarantees breached by the country.

In a separate but related step, investors who bought roughly $622 million of «tuna bonds» filed a civil action case in the UK High Court at the end of 2020. Mozambique is also a defendant alongside the bank in the trial, which is scheduled for September 2023 and expected to take 13 weeks. As part of that, in July, Credit Suisse agreed to pay out $22.6 million in compensation to investors who bought the bonds in a New York court.

5. The Neighbors

Like other Swiss banks, Credit Suisse is under fire from its neighbors. Investigations about possible tax evasion have gone quiet in Belgium, France, and Italy but that does not necessarily mean they are over. Just this past May, the French authorities indicated they were investigating Switzerland's second-largest bank on the suspicion they helped clients evade taxes.