The PRA imposes a fine of £87 million on Credit Suisse for risk management and governance failures

On 24 July 2023, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) announced that it has fined Credit Suisse International and Credit Suisse Securities £87 million for significant failures in risk management and governance in connection with the firms’ exposures to a client. It is the highest fine imposed by the PRA to date and the only time a PRA enforcement investigation has established breaches of four PRA Fundamental Rules: Rules 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the PRA Rulebook.

The PRA found that the firms’ risk management oversight and practices fell well below the regulatory standards required. The failings were found to be symptomatic of an unsound risk culture within the business line that failed to balance considerations of risk against commercial reward appropriately. The firms were also found to have failed to learn from past similar experiences and had insufficiently addressed concerns previously raised by the PRA.

Simon Pritchard acted for the PRA.

The PRA Final Notice may be found here.