Might is right

20 May 2014 By Peter Thal Larsen Follow @Peter_TL

Credit Suisse’s guilty plea and $2.5 billion fine for helping tax dodgers shows Uncle Sam’s hold over finance is strong even beyond its borders. Yet hacking accusations against Chinese military personnel have produced only defiance. It’s a sign of the limits to U.S. legal power.

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Credit Suisse on May 19 became the largest bank in 20 years to plead guilty to a U.S. criminal charge, and will pay a $2.5 billion fine to authorities for helping Americans evade taxes.

U.S. prosecutors said the bank helped clients deceive U.S. tax authorities by concealing assets in illegal, undeclared bank accounts, in a conspiracy that spanned decades.

“This case shows that no financial institution, no matter its size or global reach, is above the law,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference in Washington D.C.

“We deeply regret the past misconduct that led to this settlement,” Credit Suisse Chief Executive Brady Dougan said in a statement.

On the same day, the United States government charged five Chinese military officers with hacking into American companies to steal trade secrets.

U.S. federal prosecutors said that the suspects targeted companies including Alcoa, Allegheny Technologies, United States Steel, Westinghouse Electric, the U.S. subsidiaries of SolarWorld, and a steel workers’ union.

China’s Foreign Ministry immediately denied the charges, saying in a strongly worded statement the U.S. indictment was “made up” and would damage trust between the two nations.

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