German prosecutors probe Credit Suisse tax evasion

Analysts expect a further crackdown on banks and offshore tax havens after investigations were launched into employees and clients of Credit Suisse in Germany.

The German investigations will not affect the Swiss bank's Asian operations and are separate from its Asian business, said a Credit Suisse spokesperson.

Western governments' crackdown on offshore havens will benefit Asia in the short run as wealthy people transfer their assets. But it will have a negative long-term impact on the offshore businesses of Singapore and Hong Kong, said Hugo Williamson, managing director of the Risk Resolution Group, a UK risk consultancy.

German prosecutors are investigating employees of Credit Suisse and its subsidiaries Clariden Leu and Neue Aargauer Bank on suspicion of helping Germans evade taxes, reported Reuters.

The inquiry was launched in response to findings from Swiss bank data obtained by officials in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate earlier this year, the prosecutor's office in the city of Koblenz said.

Clariden Leu has been managing offshore companies through Singapore and Hong Kong, said the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a US organisation that recently revealed the names of companies operating secretly in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens.

In Germany, the homes of Credit Suisse customers were raided by prosecutors this week, Bloomberg reported. Their investigation is reviewing whether Credit Suisse staff helped 201 customers evade German taxes.