Julius Baer has reached an agreement in principle with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to resolve the investigation of the bank’s role in corruption events surrounding football federation Fifa.
The Swiss wealth manager has entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement and a financial component, for which Julius Baer has taken a provision of $79.7m (£60.3m, €67.3m) to be charged against its 2020 financial results.
The bank said on 9 November that it “anticipates that it will execute a final resolution in this matter with the DoJ shortly”, and it “marks another step in Julius Baer management’s continued efforts to pursue the closure of remaining regulatory and legal matters in cooperation with the relevant authorities”.
Regulatory action
Julius Baer has been cooperating with the DoJ since 2015 in its investigation of alleged money laundering and corruption involving officials and affiliates of Fifa and associated sports media and marketing companies.
The related regulatory proceeding in Switzerland was closed in February 2020, and the shortcomings identified are being remediated by Julius Baer through a programme initiated in 2016.
Swiss financial watchdog Finma banned the private bank from making acquisitions on 20 February 2020 after it found Julius Baer had fell “significantly short” in combating money laundering in its Latin America operation between 2009 and 2018, related to state-owned oil firm, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and Fifa.
The chief executive of Julius Baer added that it expects restrictions on M&A deals imposed by Finma to be lifted next year.
