Credit Suisse: Data leak reveals 18,000 accounts tied to corrupt politicians, spies and dictators

The financial world was once again rocked by a Panama Papers-style scandal on Sunday after a major data leak revealed that Credit Suisse had managed accounts for crooked politicians, criminals, spies and dictators from around the globe.

According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, an unidentified individual leaked the information on accounts which were held between the 1940s and the 2010s.

"I believe that Swiss banking secrecy laws are immoral. The pretext of protecting financial privacy is merely a fig leaf covering the shameful role of Swiss banks as collaborators of tax evaders,” the individual responsible for the data drop said in a statement delivered to the German outlet.

The data is reported to have covered more than 18,000 accounts – collectively holding more than $100 billion in assets – and once again placed a magnifying glass on the Swiss banking sector, which was forced to renounce its centuries-old culture of banking secrecy under pressure from U.S. regulators less than three years ago.

But one Royal Bank of Canada analyst told Reuters that even if the allegations are unfounded, the leak will inevitably force a conversation about the Swiss bank’s business practices and maintained that the bank “should tie up management having to spend time fighting fires instead of moving forward.”

The fires he mentioned were burning by Monday afternoon and shares in Credit Suisse dropped by nearly 3% -- a stark figure for a bank whose value fell by almost a quarter just last year.

Bank officials have systematically denied any wrongdoing, however – adding that the issue is “predominantly historical,” and that leaked information has been taken out of context.

“Credit Suisse strongly rejects the allegations and insinuations about the bank’s purported business practices. The matters presented are predominantly historical, in some cases dating back as far as the 1940s, and the accounts of these matters are based on partial, inaccurate, or selective information taken out of context, resulting in tendentious interpretations of the bank's business conduct,” the bank said in a statement on Sunday night.

But the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA,) Switzerland’s financial watchdog, has been quick to look into the matter and has already been in touch with bank leadership in an attempt to mitigate calls from the European Parliament to include the Alpine nation in the EU’s dirty-money blacklist.

"Compliance with money laundering regulations has been a focus of our supervisory activities for years now," a FINMA spokesperson noted.

Switzerland’s Finance Ministry also responded to calls from the European Parliament to once again review the Alpine nation’s banking practices, claiming in an email that the country meets "all international standards on the exchange of information in tax matters and on fighting against money laundering, terrorist financing and corruption,” Reuters reported.

FINMA added that approximately 90% of the accounts mentioned in the leak have already been closed or were in the process of being closed prior to the press inquiries.  

"The Swiss financial center has no interest in money of dubious origin. It attaches the greatest importance to the maintenance of its reputation and integrity," the Swiss Bankers Association said.