Credit Suisse will pay $474 million to U.S. and UK authorities to resolve bribery and fraud charges relating to a $2 billion Mozambique corruption scandal, while its subsidiary pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in New York and London on Tuesday.

The settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Justice Department, and the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the latest blow for the scandal-plagued Swiss bank and was announced just minutes before Switzerland's financial regulator reprimanded it for a long-running corporate espionage saga.

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The U.S. and UK charges stem from nearly $1 billion in bond offerings – a syndicated loan Credit Suisse helped to arrange between 2013 and 2016 to finance a tuna fishing industry project in Mozambique. Much of the proceeds were diverted via kickbacks to Credit Suisse bankers and Mozambique officials.

Three former Credit Suisse bankers, two middlemen and three Mozambique government officials were charged in 2018 for money laundering and defrauding U.S. investors, who had invested in the loans. U.S. prosecutors said at least $200 million of the loans had been diverted to the eight defendants. The former bankers pleaded guilty in 2019.

'Misled investors'

Through the actions of its bankers, Credit Suisse fraudulently misled investors and violated U.S. bribery laws, the authorities alleged.

The bank will pay a $175 million criminal fine to the Justice Department, $99 million to the SEC, and $200 million to the FCA, and will also relinquish a claim on $200 million of debt owed by Mozambique. As a result, the bank said it expects to pay $230 million in charges in the third quarter of 2021.

Credit Suisse's European subsidiary also pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court to one criminal count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. At the same time, the group has entered a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.

That will require the bank to continue cooperating with any ongoing investigation and to improve its compliance systems.

Credit Suisse's European subsidiary has also agreed with the Swiss regulator to appoint an independent third party to monitor its transactions and risk controls.

"Credit Suisse is satisfied with the completion of the proceedings by U.S., UK and Swiss regulatory authorities into the bank's arrangement of loan financing for Mozambique state enterprises," the bank said in a statement.