ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss private bank Lombard Odier said it would pay $99.8 million under a non-prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities to settle an investigation into allegations it helped wealthy American clients evade taxes.
"This amount has been entirely provisioned and does not affect the capital ratios of the group or of the bank, which remains among the world's best-capitalized banks," Lombard Odier said in a statement on Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed the amount to be paid in a separate statement. It also said DZ Privatbank (Schweiz) AG [DGBGBS.UL] had agreed to pay $7.45 million.
U.S. authorities have conducted criminal investigations of several Swiss banks after the country's biggest bank, UBS (VX:UBSG), agreed in 2009 to pay $780 million and identify certain U.S. clients to resolve criminal charges.
The second-biggest bank, Credit Suisse (VX:CSGN), was fined $2.5 billion last year for helping Americans evade taxes and pleaded guilty to a U.S. criminal charge.
This week, Julius Baer (VX:BAER) said it had reached an agreement in principle with U.S. authorities and set aside nearly $200 million in additional provisions to settle a similar investigation, bringing the total amount earmarked for potential penalties to $547.25 million.
Credit Agricole's (PA:CAGR) Swiss division said on Thursday it had paid a $99.2 million penalty to avoid prosecution for helping American clients evade taxes under a deal with the U.S. Justice Department.
