Senate Judiciary Committee Investigation of Credit Suisse Reveals Hidden Truths and Garners Global Attention

Reporters from Des Moines to Geneva highlighted Chairman Grassley's historic efforts to expose financial wrongdoing and ensure justice is served.

WASHINGTON - Today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Nazi-linked accounts at Credit Suisse, inspired by an ongoing oversight investigation led by Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), brought new facts about the bank's past to light and increased pressure on Credit Suisse's successor bank, UBS, to ensure the investigation isn't stifled.

Here's what news media is saying:

"According to an explosive investigation relayed to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, the now-defunct Credit Suisse maintained at least 890 accounts linked to Nazi officials, facilitating Adolf Hitler's war machine and funding the "ratlines" that allowed his henchmen to escape justice… As UBS executives testify before Congress, their legal team is already attempting to muzzle the findings, asking federal judges to prevent "public controversy" or further financial claims. However, with the Simon Wiesenthal Center fighting for First Amendment transparency, the "Swiss Bank" myth of quiet professionalism is being replaced by a more accurate image: a counting house for the architects of genocide." ("Blood Money In The Alps: How Swiss Bankers Financed Hitler And Nazi Escape 'Ratlines,'" Daily Wire)

"UBS has said it wants to bring greater transparency to Switzerland's dark chapter helping the Nazis in World War II. In Brooklyn federal court, UBS has a different message for the Jewish organization that asked for the Credit Suisse probe in 2020, the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Be quiet, and don't ask us for any more money. The issue received an airing in Congress on Tuesday when UBS executives, a rabbi from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and an independent investigator delving into archives at UBS's Credit Suisse unit testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee." ("Hundreds of Swiss Bank Accounts With Suspected Nazi Links Found by Investigators," Wall Street Journal)

"A lawyer hired by now-defunct Credit Suisse to investigate its financial ties to the Nazi regime told senators Tuesday that he was sidelined by Swiss bankers who wanted 'to suppress the truth' about the Third Reich 'profiting off of the Holocaust.' Neil Barofsky… made the claims in explosive testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee." ("Credit Suisse investigator claims he was fired for refusing to 'suppress the truth' about bank's ties to Nazi regime," New York Post)

"A yearslong investigation of Credit Suisse's history during the World War II era has uncovered previously unreported relationships between the bank and Nazis, a lawyer overseeing the inquiry [at UBS] told the Senate on Tuesday… But the hearing also focused on a complicated dispute that has arisen between [Independent Ombudsman] Mr. Barofsky and UBS… Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and many other lawmakers on the panel pressed UBS to find a way to share the files with Mr. Barofsky." ("Investigation Finds Credit Suisse Had Wider Nazi Ties Than Previously Known," New York Times)

"Members of a US Senate committee tore into UBS Group AG executives for refusing to hand over more than 150 documents that an investigator has requested that could shed light on the history of Credit Suisse accounts tied to Nazi Germany, as tensions flared again around a 1998 settlement in the case. 'UBS's conduct is absurd and a historic shame that'll outlive today's hearing,' Chairman Chuck Grassley said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the issue…" ("UBS Slammed by Senators for Obstructing Probe of Nazi Accounts," Bloomberg)

"Grassley says one aim of the investigation is to make sure no more evidence is 'swept under the rug'… 'In recent years, we've seen a disturbing rise in anti-Semitism. History serves as a stark reminder that the evils of the past can never be repeated,' Grassley says. 'Shining light on Credit Suisse' past is part of turning the page on a very dark chapter of history.'" ("Senator Grassley: Probe seeks links between Swiss banks and Nazis," Radio Iowa)

Read Grassley's opening statement HERE and questions to witnesses HERE.

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