The US Central Bank announced on Tuesday that it had ordered Credit Suisse to strengthen its anti-money laundering policy after finding procedural "shortcomings" in its operations in the United States.

The Federal Reserve (Fed) has also given the bank 90 days to adopt a plan to reform and strengthen its policy in this area. The Fed requires increased monitoring of potentially illicit activities and requires Credit Suisse to report regularly on its progress.

According to the terms of this agreement, Credit Suisse 's plan "must provide an enduring governance framework that, at a minimum, addresses, takes into account and includes actions to improve policies, procedures and controls for BSA (Bank secrecy act, editor's note) / AML (anti-money laundering, editor's note) through American operations".

The Fed adds that this should not be limited to US activities.

This agreement between the Fed and the banking establishment is not based on a particular case but on a regular review conducted by the New York Fed in 2018, a spokesperson for Credit Suisse told AWP. The bank does not have to pay a fine and the Fed has not issued activity restrictions in the United States.

Credit Suisse says it is confident it can meet the regulator's requirements for its New York subsidiary and has taken the first steps to implement a plan to improve its anti-money laundering measures.

In December 2016, the American financial market supervisory authority (Finra) imposed a fine of $16.5 million on the two-veiled bank for essential breaches during the implementation of a program to fight against money laundering. The offenses were committed from 2011 to 2015, the authority said.

The banking establishment had agreed to pay the financial penalty via one of its subsidiaries but it had not admitted its guilt.

At the close, the title gained 1.0% to 10.97 francs in an SMI benchmark market up 0.95%.