Credit Suisse Braces For $500 Million Hit From Bermuda Case

Tom Burroughes

24 March 2022

today said that a Bermuda court is expected shortly to issue a judgement against a local life insurance subsidiary of the bank, potentially amounting to more than $500 million.

The judgement is likely to affect Credit Suisse Life Bermuda, the Zurich-listed group said in a statement.

The bank said that it has already taken reserves against the matter and “intends to pursue all available legal actions.”

“We will consider whether any further reserves are required as part of our first-quarter results due to be published on April 27, 2022,” Credit Suisse said in a statement, without elaborating further.

The bank has been contesting claims by people seeking compensation for losses caused by former Credit Suisse client advisor Patrice Lescaudron, who was convicted by a Geneva court in 2018 for defrauding customers (source: Reuters, March 24, others). Credit Suisse said that Lescaudron hid his activity from the bank.

Earlier this week the bank unveiled a number of proposed boardroom changes, as a number of individuals said they were stepping down.

Credit Suisse has been attempting to rebuild its fortunes over recent months following losses stemming from the sagas. More recently, In February, the bank reacted furiously to a newspaper report claiming that it had received a “massive leak” supposedly showing that the bank harbored the wealth of clients involved in crimes including torture and money laundering.

Earlier in March, Credit Suisse reported an attributable net loss of SFr2.007 billion ($2.16 billion) for the fourth quarter of last year, and SFr1.572 billion for all of 2021 – a hit caused by litigation costs.