Switzerland's financial watchdog said Tuesday it was "in contact" with Credit Suisse after authorities in the country were kept in the dark about a massive international fraud probe targeting the bank. The five-country tax evasion and money-laundering investigation focusing on clients and top employees of Switzerland's second-largest bank came as a surprise to Swiss officials when it was announced last week.

The head of financial watchdog FINMA, Mark Branson, told reporters that Swiss regulators were now "in contact with the bank", but declined to discuss details, including whether Swiss investigators were weighing their own inquiry. Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia have mounted a probe targeting hundreds of people and thousands of Credit Suisse accounts possibly linked to tax evasion. The Swiss attorney general has voiced concern that "Switzerland was specifically excluded when this operation was organised".

"The customary practises and rules of international co-operation and mutual assistance were clearly not followed in this case," the attorney general's statement said. Bern has demanded a written explanation from Dutch authorities, who have made arrests and seized property in the case.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017