LONDON (Reuters) – Two former Credit Suisse managing directors have been banned from the UK financial services industry after they pleaded guilty in the United States over their role in Mozambique’s “tuna bond” scandal, Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority said on Tuesday.
Andrew Pearse and Surjan Singh pleaded guilty in 2019 to accepting kickbacks in relation to around $1.3 billion of loans provided by Credit Suisse to Mozambique, which have prompted litigation and regulatory penalties around the world.
Pearse, formerly head of Credit Suisse’s Global Financing Group, received around $45 million in kickbacks while Singh received $5.7 million, the FCA said.
A lawyer who represented Pearse and Singh in a separate civil lawsuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The loans and bonds at the centre of the scandal were provided by banks, including Credit Suisse, to Mozambican state-owned companies in 2013 and 2014.
They were intended to fund boats to exploit the country’s tuna-rich coastal waters and guarantee maritime security in projects backed by undisclosed state guarantees.
But hundreds of millions of dollars went missing and, when the government debt came to light in 2016, donors such as the International Monetary Fund temporarily halted support, triggering a currency collapse, defaults and financial turmoil.
Mozambique sued Emirati-Lebanese shipbuilder Privinvest and its now late owner Iskandar Safa in London, alleging they paid bribes to officials and Credit Suisse bankers to secure favourable terms.
Last year, Mozambique substantially won its lawsuit though Privinvest is appealing against that ruling.
Mozambique’s lawsuit was also brought against Credit Suisse, which on the eve of the trial agreed a settlement with Mozambique which also covered Pearse and Singh.
In 2021, Credit Suisse agreed to pay about $475 million to British and U.S. authorities to resolve bribery and fraud charges and pledged to forgive $200 million of debt owed by Mozambique.
(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru and Sam Tobin in London; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Christina Fincher)
