UBS AG is facing renewed pressure from the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee over its handling of an investigation into possible Nazi-linked accounts at Credit Suisse, after the panel’s chairman accused the Swiss bank of withholding documents and obstructing a full review, Bloomberg reported. 

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who chairs the committee, said UBS had not done enough to pursue new leads into Credit Suisse’s historical involvement with Nazi accounts and that the bank’s actions “call into question UBS’s candor to the committee and its commitment to a thorough investigation,” the news agency said. 

Grassley cited a new report to the committee from Neil Barofsky, the ombudsman hired by Credit Suisse to oversee the probe, which found that the bank had blocked a full and complete investigation of more than 100 credible leads. Grassley has sent another round of questions to the bank, escalating a dispute that UBS inherited when it acquired Credit Suisse in 2023, Bloomberg said. 

The latest clash follows a February hearing in which Grassley and other senators criticized UBS for failing to sufficiently investigate new evidence that Credit Suisse may have handled Nazi accounts before, during and after World War II, Bloomberg reported. In subsequent letters, Grassley accused UBS executives of failing to fully answer the committee’s questions at the hearing and afterward.

UBS said in a statement to the news agency that it had shown an “unwavering commitment” to the historical review, supported by substantial financial resources and ongoing engagement. The bank said it would continue to be transparent with the committee and shared its goal of clarifying the historical record in a final report by year-end.

The Senate pressure comes amid a broader legal fight over the issue. Last week, a U.S. judge rejected UBS’s request for a declaration that any newly uncovered revelations would be covered by a 1999 settlement under which UBS and other Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.25 billion to Holocaust survivors and their families over World War II-era conduct.

UBS has cited that ruling and the risk of future lawsuits in limiting Barofsky’s access to more than 100 files on grounds of legal privilege. The bank has maintained that the 1990s settlement protects it from any additional liability, whether known or unknown at the time.

In a statement to the Senate committee released Monday, Barofsky said UBS was blocking a full and complete investigation of more than 100 credible leads, Bloomberg reported. Among the leads he identified were evidence of a potential relationship with seven individuals and entities whose accounts may have facilitated Nazi criminal activity, as well as 127 incidents involving possible forced transfers of Jewish assets facilitated by Credit Suisse.

Read more at Bloomberg