AMERIKAN OLIGARCHS
EXPLAINER: How would US billionaire income tax work?
By FATIMA HUSSEIN

President Joe Biden speaks about Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine after unveiling his proposed budget for fiscal year 2023 in the State Dining Room of the White House, Monday, March 28, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)


WASHINGTON (AP) — A “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax” is included in President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal — part of the administration’s effort to reduce the federal deficit over the next decade and fund new spending. The proposal “eliminates the inefficient sheltering of income for decades or generations,” the White House says.

During a press conference highlighting the budget on Monday, Biden said one-hundredth of 1% of Americans would be subject to the tax. “The billionaire minimum tax is fair, and it raises $360 billion that can be used to lower costs for families and cut the deficit,” he said.

Whether Congress will approve is a major question as the administration outlines its hope to tax the nation’s highest earners.

Here’s how it would work:

HOW WOULD THE TAX APPLY?

The budget proposes that households worth more than $100 million pay at least 20% in taxes on both income and “unrealized gains”— the increase in an unsold investment’s value. For many wealthy individuals, the administration says, that “true income” never gets taxed since it can be held onto for decades and sometimes generations.

Biden’s proposal would allow wealthy households to spread some payments on unrealized gains over nine years, and then for five years on new income going forward. Stretching payments over multiple years is meant to smooth yearly variations in investment income, while still ensuring that the wealthiest end up paying a minimum tax rate of 20%. In effect, the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax payments are a prepayment of tax obligations these households will owe when they later realize their gains.

This is an extremely nuanced policy. The tax is targeting the ultra wealthy. It’s taxing gains achieved from their wealth, but it’s real and unrealized income rather than simply the underlying assets.

That’s why David Gamage, a tax law professor at Indiana University says “it’s not a wealth tax, it’s an income tax reform.” He says, “This is a minimum income tax that includes the true economic value” of income that can be held for a very long time, he said.

WHO WOULD SEE THE IMPACT?

Roughly 700 billionaires would be affected by the tax proposal, the White House says, estimating that these individuals increased their wealth in 2021 by $1 trillion, paying roughly 8% of their income and unrealized gains in taxes.

“A firefighter and a teacher pay more than double” the tax rate that a billionaire pays, Biden said during Monday’s press conference.

Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet and Michael Bloomberg are just a well-known few individuals who could see the earnings on their holdings taxed under this proposal if it were to become law.

HOW MUCH MONEY WOULD IT RAISE?


According to the White House, $361 billion over 10 years. The budget proposal contains an additional $1.4 trillion worth of revenue raisers, which would include a higher top tax rate of 39.6% on individuals and an increase in the corporate tax rate to 28%.

HOW DO VOTERS FEEL?

The subject of tax avoidance has grown in recent years. A ProPublica report from last June outlined how the wealthiest Americans can legally pay income taxes that are a fraction of what middle income Americans pay on their income. And a Pew Research Center study from last April states that most Americans — some 59%— say they are bothered “a lot” that some corporations and wealthy people don’t pay their fair share in taxes.

A 2017 Gallup poll states that slightly more than six in 10 Americans say that upper-income people pay too little in taxes.

IS CONGRESS LIKELY TO APPROVE THIS MEASURE?

Donald Williamson, an accounting and taxation professor at American University in Washington, said “a couple of years ago, I would’ve laughed out loud. Today it’s conceivable.”

The highest likelihood is through “reconciliation” — a budget process for passing fiscal legislation with a simple majority of Senate votes.

That will require buy-in from West Virginia Sen. Joe Machin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who have each objected to proposals to tax the ultra-wealthy in the past.

Steve Wamhoff, director of tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says the Democrats “have got this reconciliation vehicle that they can use that to pass legislation.”

“This is a step toward a much fairer tax code.”

___

Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.

'Magic mushroom' therapy may interact with other medicines

"Psilocybin has been around in Western society since the late 1950s, before many of our psychiatric medications have existed," 

By HealthDay News

A voter-approved initiative to allow psychoactive mushrooms as a therapy for mental health disorders will begin in Oregon early next year, but the drug has been edging toward being accepted as a mainstream medication in recent years. 

Photo by Shots Studio/Shutterstock.

Psilocybin, the psychedelic substance in "magic" mushrooms, is generating lots of interest as a potential treatment for a host of mental ills, but new research warns there is little data on how it might interact with more traditional psychiatric medications.

"There's a major incongruence between the public enthusiasm and exuberance with psychedelic substances for mental health issues -- and what happens when they combine with the existing mental health treatments that we have now," said study author Dr. Aryan Sarparast. He is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), in Portland.

A voter-approved initiative to allow psychoactive mushrooms as a therapy for mental health disorders will begin in Oregon early next year, but the drug has been edging toward being accepted as a mainstream medication in recent years.

So, the researchers wanted to learn more about how psilocybin interacts with widely prescribed medications such as antidepressants.

RELATED 'Magic mushroom' drug psilocybin edges toward mainstream therapy

The investigators analyzed 40 studies dating back to 1958, including 26 randomized controlled studies, 11 case reports and three epidemiological studies.

Only one of the studies examined how psilocybin interacts with antidepressants, while all of the clinical trials were conducted with healthy volunteers who received a psychiatric medication and a psychedelic at the same time.

The findings highlight the need for further research on combining traditional mental health treatments with psilocybin, according to the authors of the paper published recently in the journal Psychopharmacology.

RELATED Study finds 'magic mushroom' hallucinogen as good as antidepressants

While Sarparast said some patients with mental health conditions may benefit from taking psilocybin, he is concerned that the lack of evidence on drug interactions will make many healthcare providers want to take patients off existing medications before being given psilocybin, forcing patients into a difficult choice.

"That's a very, very tough place to be," Sarparast said in a university news release.

Still, a review of scientific literature misses a lot of data gathered on the real-world use of magic mushrooms, noted study co-author Dr. Christopher Stauffer, an assistant professor of psychiatry at OHSU and a physician-scientist at the VA Portland Health Care System.

RELATED Oregon votes to legalize psychedelic mushrooms in therapy settings

"Psilocybin has been around in Western society since the late 1950s, before many of our psychiatric medications have existed," Stauffer said. "Nonetheless, people attempting to navigate Oregon's psilocybin services in the context of ongoing psychiatric treatment should work closely with knowledgeable professionals."

More information

There's more on psilocybin at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Study: Disinfectants use during pregnancy linked to childhood asthma, eczema


A member of Japan Ground Self-Defense Force sprays disinfectant. 

File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

March 28 (UPI) -- Children whose mothers used disinfectants during pregnancy were more likely to develop asthma or eczema, a study published Monday found.

The study, published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, suggests that pregnant women's use of disinfects may be a risk factor for asthma and eczema in their children, but since it was an observational study, it was unable to establish cause.

Researchers used data on 78,915 mother-child pairs who participated in the Japan Environment and Children's Study to analyze whether mother's exposure to disinfectants in the workplace was associated with higher risk of allergic diseases in their 3-year-old children.

Exposure to disinfectants in the workplace previously has been linked to asthma and dermatitis in the workers exposed to them, but the new study looked specifically at the impact of disinfectant use during pregnancy and subsequent development of allergic disease in children.

Children were significantly more likely to have asthma or eczema if their mothers used disinfectant one to six times a week compared to mothers who never used disinfectants.

Moreover, children of women who used disinfectants every day during pregnancy had the highest risk of a diagnosis -- 26% greater for asthma and 29% greater for eczema --than children of mothers who were never exposed to disinfectants.

Disinfectants are used frequently in hospitals and medical facilities, and the COVID-19 pandemic has increased their use, researchers noted.

They also noted some limitations of the study, including that the mothers self-reported use of disinfectants and that the specific type of disinfectants were not identified.

Still, "our findings indicate that exposure [to disinfectants] during pregnancy exerts an effect on allergies in offspring regardless of whether the mother returns to work when the child is 1- year-old, and suggest an effect by exposure during pregnancy alone," researchers said in a statement.

"Given the current increased use of disinfectants to prevent new coronavirus infections, it is of great public health importance to consider whether prenatal disinfectant exposure is a risk for the development of allergic diseases."

State takes over troubled Baltimore wastewater treatment plant

March 28 (UPI) -- Maryland's environmental secretary has directed a state agency to take control of Baltimore's troubled Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant, the largest such facility statewide.

Secretary Ben Grumbles ordered the Maryland Environmental Service take over the Back River plant in Dundalk, an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, in a directive on Sunday to ensure public and environmental health protection after pollution and compliance issues.

"The Department determined that the decline in the proper maintenance and operation of the plant risks catastrophic failures at the plant that may result in environmental harm as well as adverse public health ... effects," Grumbles said in the directive.

Grumbles also directed the MES to do a comprehensive evaluation and assessment of the Back River plant's operation, maintenance, staffing and equipment issues and submit a report by June 6 to the Maryland Department of the Environment on findings and recommendations.

"This action is unprecedented, but needed to correct long-standing pollution problems at the state's largest wastewater treatment plant," Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Maryland Executive Director Josh Kurtz said in a statement Monday. "The Maryland Environmental Service has a strong record of maintaining wastewater plants and we expect that experience will be used to address the operational and maintenance issues prevalent throughout the sewage treatment process at the Back River plant."

"MES's report on what happened must be fully transparent," Kurtz added. "Residents are demanding answers as to how this integral plant was able to deteriorate to its current condition and who allowed it to happen. Residents who live near the plant need information about water quality risks."

The new directive came after Grumbles ordered Baltimore City on Thursday to operate the Back River plant in compliance with a permit, including providing an adequate number of operating staff, and to cease all unpermitted discharges within 48 hours.

A follow-up inspection Saturday found that the city had failed to comply with the order.

The Back River plant has faced regulatory scrutiny since last summer after Blue Water Baltimore detected elevated levels of bacteria there and at its city-based counterpart, Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant in Wagner's Point, and reported the pollution to MES.


State environmental inspections also found last summer the same two wastewater treatment plants illegally discharged millions of gallons a day of partially treated sewage into Chesapeake Bay.

By late January, the state of Maryland and Blue Water Baltimore had both sued Baltimore over the pollution issues at the treatment plants.

The latest Back River inspection came after boaters discovered hundreds of dead fish floating in the waters of the Back River near the plant alongside algae, which looked like sewage.

"It has long been plagued as gross and the poop river, and there is so much more potential for it," Desiree Greaver, a Rosedale resident and project management with Back River Restoration Committee, told The Baltimore Sun. "With the proper agency in there running it and doing proper maintenance and doing simple things, the river can be so much healthier."

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement that both plants "had issues that long predate my administration."

"We are committed to working with the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Maryland Environmental Service to get both of these facilities into compliance," Scott added. "This will not be an overnight fix but we must work collaboratively and combine our resources in order to ensure clean and healthy communities not just for our residents, but also for the wildlife that calls the Chesapeake Bay home."

WHITE SUPREMACIST SOCIETY

Bystander CPR less likely for Black, Hispanic Americans, study shows

By Cara Murez, HealthDay News

Researchers found that Black and Hispanic people were 41% less likely to receive CPR in public settings and 26% less likely to receive the care at home compared with White people. 

File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

If you collapse in a public place from a cardiac arrest, your chances of receiving lifesaving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are substantially better if you're White instead of Black or Hispanic, a new study finds.

Black and Hispanic individuals who have out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that others witness are less likely to receive bystander CPR than White people are, whether the cardiac arrest happens at home or in a public place, researchers discovered.

"In the U.S., there are approximately 350,000 cardiac arrests that occur outside of the hospital each year. Through prior reports, I learned that there are significant disparities in surviving this condition in Black and Hispanic communities," said Dr. Raul Angel Garcia, lead study author and fellow in training at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo. "I found that this disparity was a little unsettling, but at the same time important to better understand."

Not a heart attack

Cardiac arrest is the sudden loss of heart function, often because the heart's electrical system has malfunctioned, according to the American Heart Association. It is not a heart attack and it can be fatal if proper steps aren't taken immediately.

The researchers had hypothesized that the racial disparities in CPR would be narrower in public places, but found that not to be true, said study co-author Dr. Paul Chan, a professor of medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine.

"We don't understand why those disparities not only persisted in the public arena but were apparently even greater. The speculation is that there could be issues of bias, whether explicit or implicit," Chan said. "And what was striking for us was that this was not only present in White communities, but also Black and Hispanic communities."

RELATED Study: Black patients get worse care after cardiac arrest

If a White person had a cardiac arrest in a community where more than 50% of the residents were Black or Hispanic, they were still much more likely to get bystander CPR than a Black or Hispanic individual, Chan explained. That was consistent whether it was a predominantly White community, an integrated community or a majority Black or Hispanic community, he said.

WE INTERNALIZE OUR OPPRESSION, EACH OF US REPEATING THE RULES OF THE RULING CLASS

To study the issue, the investigators analyzed 110,000 bystander-witnessed cardiac arrests that happened in settings other than hospitals between 2013 and 2019.

The researchers found that Black and Hispanic people were 41% less likely to receive CPR in public settings and 26% less likely to receive the care at home compared with White people.

RELATED CPR is less effective than most people think, study suggests

In public settings, Black and Hispanic individuals received CPR 46% of the time and White individuals received it 60% of the time. In the home, just 39% of Black and Hispanic people received CPR compared with 47% of White people.

Not enough training?

Less access to CPR training or to emergency dispatchers who can communicate in a language other than English could help to explain some of the disparities in receiving CPR at home, Chan said.

One solution may be thinking creatively about offering low-cost CPR instruction to vulnerable populations who may not historically have had access to training, the authors suggested.

Revising training materials may also help, Chan said. For example, training videos could include scenarios where bystanders or a person experiencing cardiac arrest are people of color. The mannequins used for training could also have more diverse skin colors.

"That's the first thing we need to do," Chan said. "We also need to make a really aggressive effort to offer bystander CPR training for free in Black and Hispanic communities."

If a community has a large population that speaks a specific language, such as Nigerian or Cuban, for example, it may help if there are dispatchers available who also speak those languages, Garcia suggested. That would enable someone in a home or public setting to provide guided CPR assistance in a crisis, without language as a barrier.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of data that can capture, nationally, what is the success of dispatcher-assisted CPR," Garcia said.

He called for better tracking of that data for future study.

The researchers also noted that overall rates of bystander CPR were low across all racial groups.

Dr. Gina Lundberg is a cardiologist in Atlanta and a member of an American College of Cardiology work group on disparities of care.

She expressed surprise at the study results, including the disparities for those experiencing cardiac arrest in their homes. Ensuring that Black and Hispanic communities receive more access to training and opportunities to practice CPR skills might help, she suggested.

Sometimes people are not comfortable initiating CPR, Lundberg explained, because they are uncertain about hurting someone, not knowing how hard to press or how fast to go.

"That's a place to start," said Lundberg, who was not involved in the study.

Another starting point could be emulating a program in Georgia in which all high school seniors are required to learn CPR before graduation, Lundberg suggested.

Minutes can make a huge difference for someone who has had a cardiac arrest. CPR keeps the blood circulating to the brain, heart and vital organs until someone can use an AED or defibrillator, Lundberg said.

"CPR is a bridge until the real treatment arrives. Most people don't recover, just getting CPR. They need the electrical shock that you would deliver with the AED or the defibrillator," Lundberg said.

The findings will be presented Sunday at the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The American Heart Association has more on CPR.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

South Korea files complaint for Japan history books over sex slaves, other WWII claims

By Thomas Maresca

The issue of comfort women, the euphemism for sex slaves used by Japan during World War II, has remained a deeply contentious issue between Seoul and Tokyo. 

File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

SEOUL, March 29 (UPI) -- Seoul lodged a complaint against Tokyo on Tuesday over new history textbooks which South Korean officials say distort facts about Japan's use of forced labor and sexual slavery against Koreans during World War II.

South Korea's foreign ministry expressed "deep regret" over the textbooks, which were approved Tuesday by Japanese authorities for use by second- and third-year high school students starting in 2023.


The books "distort historical facts of the past in accordance with [Japan's] self-centered view of history, and call for correction," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Expressions such as "forced labor" were watered down to "conscription" or "mobilization," South Korean officials said, while references to so-called "comfort women" sex slaves were downplayed.

The ministry summoned a senior official from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to deliver a formal protest, Yonhap reported.

Protesters demonstrate near a statue of a South Korean "comfort women" in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, on February 8, 2017. "Comfort Women" were Koreans who served as sex workers for Japanese soldiers during World War II. 

File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI

Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945, a period of colonization that ended with Tokyo's defeat in World War II. Some historians estimate that as many as 200,000 girls and women, mainly Koreans, were used as sex slaves by Japan in military brothels.

The issue of comfort women -- the euphemism used to describe the sex slaves -- has long been a deeply contentious issue in the relationship between South Korea and Japan.

Tokyo contends that the matter was settled in a 1965 treaty that normalized relations between the two countries and a 2015 deal that included an $8 million fund to support victims.

However, a South Korean government task force in 2017 declared the deal inadequate, saying it did not sufficiently address the opinions of the victims themselves. Lawsuits by survivors seeking reparations from Japan have made their way through Seoul courts with conflicting decisions issued last year.

An international group of survivors and advocates sent a petition to United Nations human rights investigators earlier this month, pushing for the comfort women issue to be brought before the U.N. International Court of Justice.

Seoul also protested the textbooks' claims of the Dokdo Islands as Japanese territory that South Korea is illegally occupying.

The tiny islets, which Japan calls Takeshima, are administered by South Korea and have been the source of a long-running territorial dispute.

THREE YEARS LATE
Spotify rolls out COVID-19 content advisory tab


A banner advertising Spotify's public trading debut hangs from the facade of the New York Stock Exchange on April 3, 2018. Spotify rolled out a new COVID-19 advisory tab on its site Monday. File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI | License Photo


March 28 (UPI) -- Spotify on Monday introduced a COVID-19 content advisory tab on podcasts, a long-awaited feature the company promised after controversy over Joe Rogan's podcast led to an exodus of entertainers from the platform.

The small blue tab on Spotify directs users to its coronavirus information hub. Rogan and Spotify had been hit with complaints that vaccine misinformation was spread on The Joe Rogan Experience.

The Spotify COVID-19 hub will lead users to authoritative sources like the World Health Organization and the National Health Service in Britain.

Musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their work from Spotify along with author Brene Brown over Rogan's COVID-19-related podcasts.

Spotify has not released a statement on the tab and the tech website Engadget said it does not appear to everyone. It said the tab did not appear on services located in Canada as of Monday.

In February, Spotify removed some 79 episodes of Rogan's podcast from 2009 and 2018, before the pandemic began. Rogan has also been criticized for using racial slurs.

He previously faced criticism for referring to transgender female MMA fighter Fallon Fox as a "man" and featuring guests including conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of Infowars and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, who used Rogan's show to argue that Muslim people are inbred.

Girl named world's youngest opera singer at age 7


Victory Brinker, 10, was named the world's youngest opera singer by Guinness World Records on Sunday, and the record-keeping organization said she achieved the record by participating in eight professional performances at age 7. 

Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records

March 28 (UPI) -- Guinness World Records announced a young performer has been dubbed the world's youngest opera singer after performing as a professional at age 7.

The record-keeping organization said Victory Brinker earned the record at the age of 7 years and 314 days after participating in eight professional performances at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre's Lights and Legends show in 2019.

The Latrobe, Pa., performer, now 10, also made history on July 6, 2021, when she became the first America's Got Talent performer to receive a Golden Buzzer from all four judges.

"I was an early talker and started singing at age 2. Between age 2 and 3, I was memorizing entire CDs with good pitch. I was always singing," Brinker told Guinness.

Brinker said she became interested in opera shortly before her 6th birthday, when she was introduced to the art form by her mother.

"I love the challenge of the difficult arrangements, the technique required to sing, all the runs, and the different languages all the arias are written in," she said.

Brinker was invited on Lo Show Dei Record, Guinness' Italian TV series, and she was surprised with her record certificate during the show on Sunday.

Nearly 30% of adolescents, teens in U.S. have prediabetes, study finds


More and more adolescents and teens in the United States have prediabetes, a sign many of them are on the path to full-blown diabetes, a new study suggests. 

File photo by Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock

March 28 (UPI) -- Nearly 30% of adolescents and teens in the United States meet the criteria for prediabetes, an analysis published Monday by JAMA Pediatrics found.

This includes just over 40% of young people who are obese, the data showed.

In addition, those age 12 to 19 years who live in poverty are more likely to have prediabetes, the prevalence of which in this age group more than doubled since 1999, researchers said.

Between 2015 and 2018, the last period included in the analysis, 28% of adolescents and teens had prediabetes, up from 12% between 1999 and 2002, according to the researchers.

"These numbers are striking, and it's pretty clear that, if we don't do something to bring down these numbers, we are going to see a significant increase in diabetes in the United States," study co-author Junxiu Liu told UPI in a phone interview.

"Parents and others responsible for children's diets must do more to ensure they receive adequate nutrition and reduce their sugar intake," said Liu, an assistant professor of population health science and policy at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

Increasing physical activity among young people can also reduce their risk for prediabetes and diabetes, she said.

RELATED 'Walkable' neighborhoods reduce diabetes, obesity risk, analysis finds

About 35 million people in the United States have either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, the American Diabetes Association estimates.

However, nearly 100 million adults have prediabetes, which is defined as having elevated blood sugar levels that fall below the threshold for full diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition, as many as one in five adolescents and teens ages 12 to 18 years have prediabetes, based on earlier agency estimates.

Earlier studies have found that obesity increases the risk for diabetes among children.

For this study, Liu and her colleagues analyzed data from nearly 6,600 people ages 12 to 19 years who responded to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a CDC-led survey that is conducted every two years to assess nutrition and health trends nationally.

Based on responses collected between 1999 and 2002, the prevalence of prediabetes among those ages 12 to 19 years in the United States at that time was just under 12%, the data showed.

By 2003 to 2006, that figure had grown to just over 15% before rising again to about 23% for the 2007 to 2010 survey period, the researchers said.

It declined slightly to just under 23% during the 2011 to 2014 survey period before increasing to 28% in the 2015 to 2018 period, they said.

"This is all before the COVID-19, when research suggests that physical activity declined among young people," Liu said.

"This is an important message for parents and caregivers, as well as public health leaders, that we need to pay more attention to diet and exercise in young people," she said.

US House committee launches Russia-related probe into Credit Suisse


House lawmakers have asked Credit Suisse for documents concerning it asking investors to destroy documents that may be pertinent to Russian sanctions.

 File Photo by Ennio Leanza/EPA

March 29 (UPI) -- The House oversight and reform committee announced it has launched an investigation into global investment bank Credit Suisse over its alleged connections to Russian oligarchs.

The committee sent a letter Monday addressed to Credit Suisse's chief executive, Thomas Gottstein, requesting information about recent reports that his company instructed hedge funds and other investors to destroy documents concerning yachts and private jets owned by its clients.

These allegations, the committee said, raise concerns over the financial firm's compliance with sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies targeting Russian oligarchs over their country's invasion of Ukraine.

The committee said it was "particularly concerned" that the bank's directive to destroy documents concerning its clients' yachts, private planes and other such assets is in connection to Switzerland -- a historically neutral country when it comes to international conflict and where the company is based -- stating it will impose sanctions against Russia along with democratic nations.

The letter also pointed to another report that states the bank sold off risk related to a $2 billion portfolio of loans backed by private yachts and planes -- assets that may be owned by Russian oligarchs targeted by sanctions.

"Credit Suisse's action raises significant concerns that it may be concealing information about whether participants in the securitization deal, including both Credit Suisse and investors, as well as owners of underlying assets, such as yachts and private jets, may be evading sanctions imposed by the United States and the international community in response to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine," the committee said.

It has asked Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-largest bank, to provide it with communications on loans backed by yachts and private jets, documents and other information provided to investors related to its portfolio backed by yachts and such assets, a list of participating investors in the securitization deal and other related information.

The documents are to go back to January of 2017 and they are to be provided to the committee by April 11, it said.

UPI has contacted Credit Suisse for comment.

In early March following publication of reports that it may have committed wrong doing, Credit Suisse issued a statement explaining it had requested non-participating investors to destroy documents related to the November 2021 risk transfer transaction as stipulated in their non-disclosure agreement.

The documents, it said, did not contain client names or asset identifiers.

"Following the successful closure of the transaction, Credit Suisse requested non-participating investors to destroy documents relating to the matter, as stipulated in the NDA," it said. "Reminding parties to destroy confidential information is good housekeeping and good data hygiene."

"The transaction and the request to non-participating investors to destroy confidential data are entirely unrelated to the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe," it added.

The company said its Russia net credit exposure is about $1.1 billion, including about $900 million in derivatives and financing exposures, trade finance exposures and other loans as well as about $200 million in its two Russian subsidiaries.

Russia invaded Ukraine Feb. 24 to widespread condemnation and was met with sanctions that have already taken a toll on its economy.

Days before the invasion, Credit Suisse was accused of poor business practices after accounts worth more than $100 billion were leaked.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project said dozens of the accounts belonged to "dubious characters," including an Algerian general accused of torture as well as a Serbian drug lord.

Credit Suisse rejected the accusations.


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