Japanese prosecutors indict Credit Suisse

CSFP is a unit of the Credit Suisse Group. The prosecutors said in a statement that Yamada had conspired with two other unidentified company employees early this year to hide documents in a room, the existence of which they concealed from authorities, despite demands from inspectors to hand over the papers.

The prosecutors also said Yamada gave false responses to FSA inspectors. A spokesman in Hong Kong for the Credit Suisse Group said he was not able to comment immediately on the prosecutors’ action.

CSFP had its bankinglicence revoked in July for offering inappropriate products to clients and obstructing official investigations. At that time the company said some employees had taken it into their own hands to shred documents, thinking they were covering up potential firewall violations.

The probe by the FSA had been looking into whether Credit Suisse Group firms in Tokyo were engaged in irregular transactions to help clients conceal losses by bouncing them from one account to another, possibly by using derivatives transactions.

If the company itself is found to have been systematically involved in blocking the FSA probe, it could face a fine of up to 200 million yen ($1.95 million). The FSA has cracked down on several foreign financial firms since it was set up in June 1998, moves which industry officials say underline its resolve to promote transparency in Tokyo markets.

Previously, the Finance Ministry had inspected only Japanese banks. In October, the FSA ordered US investment bank Lehman Brothers to improvebusiness practices of securities unit Lehman Brothers Japan Inc after inspections of its Tokyo operations.

The FSA ordered the Tokyo branch of US Securities firm Cresvale Group to halt operations from November 1 to January 14 after checking claims it gave kickbacks to corporate clients.