UBS, on suspicion of tax evasion...It is likely to pay hundreds of billions of won in settlement.

The U.S. Wall Street Journal reported that UBS, the largest Swiss bank, will pay at least hundreds of billions of won in criminal settlements over alleged tax evasion support from Credit Suisse, which it acquired in 2023.

The Wall Street Journal predicts that a final agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and UBS will be reached as early as this week, with at least hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal settlements to be paid by UBS.

Earlier in 2014, Credit Suisse pleaded guilty to encouraging or abetting offshore tax evasion by American customers and signed a criminal settlement with a $2.6 billion fine instead of avoiding prosecution.

However, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee says Credit Suisse violated its agreement with the Justice Department by failing to report related facts even though a U.S. national customer transferred funds from an undeclared account to another bank.

Earlier, Credit Suisse was embroiled in a crisis after losing about $5.5 billion due to a margin call at Akegos Capital, which is run by Korean investor Bill Huang, before being acquired by its local rival UBS in 2023.