A new inquiry casts serious doubt on the conduct of Credit Suisse, one of Switzerland’s largest banks, during World War II. Recently uncovered documents from the bank’s archives, now part of UBS following a merger, reveal that crucial information was withheld during investigations in the 1990s regarding the bank’s ties to the Nazi regime, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
The investigation, led by former U.S. prosecutor Neil Barofsky, identified client files in Credit Suisse’s archives marked as being on the "American Blacklist" – a designation for clients who financed or traded with the Nazis and their allies. This new inquiry began after the Simon Wiesenthal Center found information pointing to previously undisclosed Nazi-linked clients.
As the investigation was running its course, several Nazi-linked bank accounts were identified, some of which had already been discovered by the bank in the 1990s but were never disclosed to external investigators. Additionally, new details emerged about an operational account controlled by senior Nazi SS officers and a Swiss intermediary, which was allegedly used for the transfer and storage of looted assets.
Barofsky, who is currently a partner at the law firm Jenner & Block, was hired by Credit Suisse in 2021 to conduct this investigation. Although he was dismissed during the inquiry, he was reinstated in late 2023 after UBS acquired Credit Suisse. In a December 2024 letter to the U.S. Senate, Barofsky stated that the investigation had identified dozens of individuals and legal entities connected to Nazi atrocities whose ties to the bank were previously unrecognized or only partially acknowledged.
The archives in Zurich contained approximately 3,600 boxes of client information, including records related to the American Blacklist. A preliminary review of 99 known Nazis and collaborators uncovered 13 matches. Investigators found that portions of these files were included in earlier reviews but were never systematically scanned, mapped or integrated into those investigations.
Historical background and previous investigations
In the 1990s, following public outrage over funds withheld from Holocaust victims, two investigative committees examined the activities of Swiss banks during the war. These committees, led by former Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker and historian Jean-François Bergier, found that Swiss bankers systematically ignored the plundering of Jewish assets by the Nazis and obstructed families attempts to reclaim their funds.
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As a result of those investigations, Credit Suisse agreed to pay $1.25 billion in reparations to Jewish families who were denied access to accounts in Switzerland, as well as to survivors of forced labor or their heirs. However, the current investigation raises questions about the bank’s transparency during that time.
Barofsky’s team is expected to publish its final report in early 2026. A spokesperson for UBS stated that the bank remains committed to providing a full account of legacy Nazi-linked accounts previously held by Credit Suisse’s predecessor institutions.