Credit Suisse penalised for leaking info in Japan

Japanese watchdogs found Credit Suisse’s brokerage unit in Japan leaked non-public information to customers.

Japanese regulators are to penalise Credit Suisse after they discovered it leaked non-public information about another company.

An analyst and a sales employee in the bank’s Japanese brokerage unit were found to have used non-public information to encourage customers to buy shares.

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) concluded in its findings that the company’s system for managing corporate information was “inadequate”, and recommended the Financial Services Authority (FSA) penalise Credit Suisse.

The regulator explained Credit Suisse had “managed corporate information without having taken necessary and appropriate measures to ensure the prevention of unfair transactions...”

In its report, the SESC did not make suggestions about how to punish Credit Suisse.

The “root cause” was identified by the SESC as “insufficiency of measures ensuring internal control in the process of downsizing the divisions, such as the internal control division.”

Credit Suisse in Japan released a statement on the SESC’s findings, explaining it takes the actions of its employees very seriously.

The bank said it is committed to strengthening its internal controls.

Credit Suisse is not the first to be face penalties in Japan for information leaking.

In December last year, an analyst at Deutsche Bank’s Tokyo brokerage was found to have leaked non-public information.

At the time, the SESC also recommended the FSA penalise the German bank for its failings.  

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