London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

Julius Baer to Pay $80 Million to End FIFA Laundering Probe

Julius Baer to Pay $80 Million to End FIFA Laundering Probe

Julius Baer Group Ltd. will pay almost $80 million to resolve a U.S. probe of its role in the payment of tens of millions of dollars in bribes to leaders of FIFA, the governing body for world soccer.

The U.S. charged the Swiss private bank with a money-laundering conspiracy and will drop the case in three years as part of a deferred-prosecution agreement, if the bank meets certain conditions. Federal prosecutors and the bank’s general counsel appeared in a video conference Thursday before U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn, New York.

Julius Baer will pay a fine of $43.3 million and forfeit $36.4 million. The bank said in November it had set aside $79.7 million to resolve the case. It has cooperated with U.S. authorities since 2015 in a corruption investigation involving officials and affiliates of FIFA and associated sports media and marketing firms.

The bank “agreed with sports marketing executives and soccer officials to launder at least $36,368,400 in bribe payments through the United States in furtherance of a scheme in which sports marketing companies bribed soccer officials in exchange for broadcasting rights to soccer matches,” according to a statement of facts that Julius Baer admitted.

The bank declined to comment on the agreement.

Massive Crackdown


The pact is part of a massive U.S. crackdown on corruption in FIFA that led to at least 26 guilty pleas as well as deferred- or non-prosecution agreements involving several sports marketing and athletic apparel corporations.

A former Julius Baer banker, Jorge Arzuaga, was sentenced in November to three years of probation for facilitating the payment of bribes to the presidents of the Argentine Soccer Federation and the South American Football Confederation. Arzuaga cooperated with investigators.

While the bank contacted prosecutors shortly after the U.S. made its first FIFA arrests in May 2015, it failed to “come forward with all evidence pertaining to the involvement of senior management,” according to court papers. That conduct involved two senior managers, including one executive board member. Neither manager was named.

Since then, the bank has made a “significant effort to remediate its historically deficient compliance program,” spending $112 million on a three-year program to bolster its anti-money laundering controls, the papers said.

The bank has faced other scandals in recent years. In 2018, former banker Matthias Krull was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a plot to launder $1.2 billion stolen from Venezuela’s state-owned oil producer, Petroleos de Venezuela SA. In 2016 the bank paid $547 million and signed a deferred-prosecution agreement after admitting it helped thousands of Americans conceal billions of dollars in assets from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Two bankers pleaded guilty.

And in March, Julius Baer announced that Swiss regulator Finma was lifting a ban on complex acquisitions it imposed on the bank in February 2020 over its inadequate money-laundering controls.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×