SEC Fines Credit Suisse AG $90 Million For Misleading On Key Performance Metric

The Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges against Credit Suisse AG for misrepresenting how it determined a key performance metric for its wealth management business. The bank agreed to pay a $90 million penalty and admit wrongdoing. The SEC investigation found that Credit Suisse contradicted its publicly disclosed methodology for determining "net new assets" or NNA, a metric valued by investors in financial institutions to measure success in attracting new business. Rolf B�gli, who served as chief operating officer of the firm's private banking division also agreed to settle charges that he allegedly pressured employees to classify certain high net worth and ultra-high net worth client assets as NNA in order to meet sales targets despite concerns raised by some employees. B�gli neither admitted nor denied the SEC's finding that he was a cause of the Credit Suisse violations but agreed to pay an $80,000 penalty.