Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $47m to settle a US Department of Justice probe into hiring practices in Asia that involved the Swiss bank recruiting so-called princelings to win business.
The scandal surrounding the hiring of the sons and daughters of powerful political families in China rocked several US and European banks starting in 2013, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission launched an official investigation into whether the practice violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Banks were found to have brought on well-connected individuals in the hopes of currying favour with powerful families to win business. At the time, it was hoped that princelings would help the banks score lucrative deals but the practice was also in potential breach of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That law bars companies from paying bribes to overseas officials to win business.