Neil Barofsky, the government’s bailout watchdog, isn’t done chewing up the big banks.
Barofsky, the former special inspector general who ripped the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, will be tasked with monitoring Credit Suisse after it pleaded guilty to aiding US tax cheats, The Post has learned.
The New York Department of Financial Services, led by Superintendent Ben Lawsky, is set to announce the appointment in the coming days, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
Barofsky, now a partner at the private law firm Jenner & Block, will lead the investigation into the No. 2 Swiss bank, assisted by colleague Anthony Barkow.
Lawsky’s office is ramping up oversight of Credit Suisse after it agreed last month to pay a $2.6 billion fine and admitted helping wealthy Americans evade taxes.
Barofsky will probe the bank’s past failures and its current actions to determine how it flouted the IRS for decades — and make sure that it doesn’t happen again, a source said.
There was a competitive process for the assignment involving about 15 firms. Jenner & Block won in part because it doesn’t have any conflicts of interest with Credit Suisse, the source said.
Lawsky, who recused himself from the selection process, wanted an aggressive monitor who wouldn’t bend under conflicts of interest or pressure from Credit Suisse, the source added.
A former assistant US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Barofsky, 44, gave up his job to oversee the government’s bank bailouts at the height of the crisis and quickly earned a reputation as a Wall Street gadfly.
Barofsky’s appointment follows criticism that US officials weren’t tough enough on the Swiss bank.
Brady Dougan, Credit Suisse’s CEO since 2007, didn’t suffer any major professional repercussions from the bank’s guilty plea. He later said that investors were “very reassuring” and that the bank wouldn’t lose many clients from the admission of guilt.
Part of Barofsky’s charter is to identify individuals who were responsible for the long-running tax scam, which could include directors, the DFS said last month.
Barofsky and Matt Anderson, a DFS spokesman, declined to comment.
The upcoming appointment was earlier reported by the New York Times.