Credit Suisse Posts Heavy Loss after U.S. Tax Fine

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Credit Suisse Tuesday posted a net second-quarter loss of 700 million Swiss francs (576 million euros, $778 million) as a multi-billion-euro U.S. tax evasion fine sent it deep into the red.

The Swiss banking giant paid a $2.6 billion settlement to U.S. authorities in May over tax evasion charges -- helping thousands of wealthy Americans hide money in offshore accounts to avoid taxes. 

Its quarterly losses exceeded the forecasts of analysts who had expected them to reach 600 million Swiss francs. Last year Credit Suisse posted a 1.04-billion-franc profit over the same period.

The U.S. fine heavily impacted the giant's private banking and wealth management divisions, which racked up pre-tax losses of 749 million Swiss francs, the bank said in a statement.

This was offset by corporate banking activities which generated a pre-tax profit of 752 million Swiss francs, on a par with the same period last year but down