A former Credit Suisse banker who pleaded guilty to charges in the U.S. for her role in an African corruption scheme has now been banned by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The regulator imposed a permanent ban on Detelina Subeva, a former vice-president at Credit Suisse, who pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge in the U.S. in 2019, and admitted to accepting a US$200,000 kickback in connection with loans made by the bank to the Republic of Mozambique.
“Ms. Subeva’s conviction for conspiring to commit money laundering, as well as her decision to leave Credit Suisse to continue to work with her co-conspirators in circumstances where she must have been aware of the risk that further corrupt payments might be made, demonstrates a clear and serious lack of integrity,” the regulator said in its notice.
While Subeva pleaded guilty and began cooperating with U.S. authorities in 2019, she wasn’t sentenced until 2022. And, the FCA said that it waited until now to take enforcement action against her, pending the resolution of other legal proceedings in the U.S. and the U.K.
In 2021, as part of a US$475-million settlement with authorities in the U.S. and the U.K., the FCA fined Credit Suisse £145 million for serious failings related to US$1.3 billion worth of loans to the country.
Subeva is the third former employee to be banned in connection with the case. Earlier this year, the FCA also banned a couple of other Credit Suisse employees, who accepted US$50 million in kickbacks, following their convictions in the U.S.
“Ms Subeva admitted to receiving and retaining US$200,000 in illegal kickbacks. There is no place in our markets for criminal behaviour. We will continue to take action against those who try to take advantage of our financial system,” said Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, in a release.