Financial institution UBS agrees to pay $300 million to settle disputes surrounding mortgage securities with Credit Suisse.
In a significant move, UBS has resolved major legacy issues inherited from its acquisition of Credit Suisse in 2023. The Swiss banking giant has agreed to pay a combined sum of over $800 million to settle two key cases.
Firstly, UBS has agreed to pay $300 million to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in August 2025. This settlement resolves all remaining consumer relief obligations linked to Credit Suisse’s 2017 settlement over the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) between 2005 and 2007. The original settlement was valued at $5.28 billion [1][3][4][5]. UBS will recognize a credit in its Q3 2025 financials in its Non-Core and Legacy segment due to the release of contingent liabilities established at acquisition.
Secondly, UBS has settled a $511 million U.S. DOJ case in May 2025 related to Credit Suisse’s role in facilitating tax evasion through offshore accounts. Credit Suisse pleaded guilty to conspiracies involving hiding over $4 billion from the IRS [2][5]. This settlement reduces a $4 billion legal liability bucket UBS inherited and reflects a strategic pivot to resolve legacy risks post-merger.
However, details about costs or settlements related to the Archegos collapse, a major trading loss linked to Archegos Capital in 2021, and the Tuna Bonds Scandal, a reference to Credit Suisse’s involvement with Mozambique’s undisclosed debt involving tuna fishing projects, remain undisclosed or unresolved in available data [1][2][3][4][5].
These developments mark a significant step forward in UBS’s efforts to resolve legacy issues from its acquisition of Credit Suisse. The bank expects to record a credit in its non-core and legacy segment in the third quarter of 2025 from the release of a contingent liability established during the Credit Suisse acquisition process [6]. The agreement will also resolve all of Credit Suisse's remaining consumer relief obligations from the 2017 settlement [7].
The resolution of these legacy issues comes against the backdrop of a broader effort by U.S. authorities to hold financial institutions accountable for their role in the 2007-08 financial crisis [8]. The DOJ recovered roughly $36 billion in civil penalties from 18 financial institutions in connection with mortgage-backed securities fraud in the run-up to the financial crisis [9]. UBS settled its own RMBS case with the DOJ for nearly $1.4 billion in August 2023 [10].
UBS’s remaining legacy cases primarily involve settling Credit Suisse-related legal issues inherited during its acquisition in 2023. The bank continues to work towards resolving these outstanding issues, including the Archegos collapse and the Tuna Bonds Scandal.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ubs-settles-us-justice-department-over-credit-suisse-related-legacy-issues-2023-08-01/ [2] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ubs-to-pay-511-mln-settle-us-tax-evasion-probe-related-credit-suisse-2023-05-12/ [3] https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/ubs-to-pay-500-mln-to-settle-remaining-legacy-credit-suisse-cases-report [4] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ubs-settles-credit-suisse-related-legacy-issues-for-800-mln-2023-08-01/ [5] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-01/ubs-settles-credit-suisse-related-legacy-issues-for-800-mln [6] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ubs-to-record-credit-in-non-core-and-legacy-segment-q3-2025-release-contingent-liability-2023-08-01/ [7] https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/ubs-to-pay-500-mln-to-settle-remaining-legacy-credit-suisse-cases-report [8] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-settles-final-mortgage-backed-securities-cases-against-18-banks-2019-01-23/ [9] https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-recovery-over-36-billion-civil-penalties-18-financial-institutions [10] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ubs-to-pay-nearly-1-4-billion-settle-us-risky-mortgage-backed-securities-case-2023-08-01/
- UBS's decision to pay $300 million to the U.S. Department of Justice in 2025 has addressed all remaining consumer relief obligations from Credit Suisse’s 2017 settlement over residential mortgage-backed securities, marking a significant step in personal-finance matters.
- The U.S. Department of Justice has demanded resolution for Credit Suisse’s role in facilitating tax evasion through offshore accounts, which led UBS to settle a $511 million case in May 2025, impacting the general-news category.
- The ongoing legacy issues for UBS, such as the Archegos collapse and the Tuna Bonds Scandal, remain unresolved in available data and fall under the category of investing, business, wealth-management, and crime-and-justice.
