Credit Suisse breach spills personal info of high-net-worth clients

Credit Suisse — which in the last month alone has reported customers withdrew $120 billion — is now informing ultra-high-net-worth individuals of yet another disaster, On the Money has learned.

The Swiss bank is telling some top clients — customers who keep $50 million or more in the bank — that sensitive personal information including social security identification, employment information, and contact details has been compromised.

According to a letter obtained by On the Money, Credit Suisse wrote that a rogue employee has taken individuals’ data, “an individual employee, who has since left the firm and had legitimate access to your personal data at the time for their daily work, inappropriately copied this information without Credit Suisse’s authorization onto their personal device.” 

A source close to the bank noted there is no evidence the data has been misused.

The note was signed by the company’s chief compliance officer and group data protection officer. And clients who received the letter were not comforted by the cursory note.

“Someone stole enough information to take out a loan or buy a house in my name,” one outraged customer told On the Money. “And the CEO can’t even write a letter — it’s only from the chief compliance officer?!”

Adding insult to injury, the bank told clients that it would enroll them in an identity theft protection service, Identity Works, but wouldn’t pay for other fees, some as low as $20, associated with protecting their identity as a result of the theft, sources add. 

While Credit Suisse said clients can file a report with the Federal Trade Commission or a state Attorney General, the bank won’t cover any of those filing costs either. 

Adding insult to injury, the bank told clients that it would enroll them in an identity theft protection service, Identity Works, but wouldn’t pay for other fees, some as low as $20, associated with protecting their identity as a result of the breach. While Credit Suisse said clients can file a report with the Federal Trade Commission or a state Attorney General, the bank won’t cover any of those filing costs either. 

“Swiss banks are supposedly about discretion and secrecy,” the source added. “They’ve failed in that and have the audacity to pay minor credit monitoring fees. They’re so cheap they can’t pay an extra $20.”

This could be the nail in the coffin for remaining Credit Suisse wealth management clients. The bank teamed up with Greensill Capital to provide risky investments to roughly 1,000 of its clients. The company’s investment bank — which lost roughly $5.5 billion in the meltdown of Bill Hwang’s family office Archegos — has been spun out and renamed First Boston.

A Credit Suisse spokesperson pointed to a prior statement the bank made about employee data being compromised.

“As previously reported, Credit Suisse has recently addressed a data security incident that involved information relating to a number of Credit Suisse personnel. This data was moved some years ago by a former employee, with legitimate systems access, to their personal device – in breach of Credit Suisse policies and procedures. Having investigated it thoroughly, we have taken and are continuing to take steps – including legal remedies – to adequately contain the incident. To date, there is no evidence of any onward transmission or intent to use the data in any way.”