Authorities 'visit' Credit Suisse European offices

GENEVA: Credit Suisse said Friday that its offices in London, Paris and Amsterdam had been visited by local authorities over concerns about client taxes, as the Netherlands announced a Europe-wide tax fraud probe.

A statement from Dutch prosecutors made no mention of Credit Suisse, Switzerland's number two bank.

It said only that dozens of people "suspected of tax fraud and money laundering" were under investigation in the Netherlands and that "administrative records" had been seized from a Swiss bank.

Dutch officials arrested two people on Thursday accused of not declaring their savings and interrogated two other suspects, added the statement from the National Prosecutor's Office for Serious Fraud, Environmental Crime and Asset Confiscation (FIOD).

"Properties, and jewellery, an expensive car, expensive paintings and a gold bar from houses in The Hague, Hoofddorp, Zwolle and the municipality of Venlo" were seized, the statement said.

Simultaneous criminal investigations were ongoing in Britain, France, Germany and Australia, according to the Dutch statement.

"The suspects with undeclared savings in the above-mentioned countries all deposited their money in the same Swiss bank," the FIOD further said.

Meanwhile, Credit Suisse issued a short statement confirming only that the bank's offices in the three European cities had been "contacted by local authorities concerning client tax matters" on Thursday.

"We are cooperating with the authorities," it added.

The Swiss banking giant said it "applies the Withholding Tax Agreement between Switzerland and the UK", and "had implemented the Dutch and French voluntary tax disclosure programs and exited non-compliant clients."

"Credit Suisse continues to follow a strategy of full client tax compliance," the statement said.

When contacted by AFP, the bank declined to provide any further details.