Leonteq rejects allegations of suspicious trades

By Noele Illien

ZURICH (Reuters) -Leonteq on Wednesday dismissed a media report alleging suspicious trading at the Swiss fintech company potentially related to tax evasion or money laundering by clients.

The company, which offers structured investment products, said internal and external investigations had found no evidence to support the allegations raised by the Financial Times newspaper.

Leonteq's shares plunged as much as a quarter in value on Tuesday after the Financial Times said whistleblowers had accused consultants EY of whitewashing suspicious trades in an investigation it conducted this year for Leonteq.

"Leonteq strongly refutes these allegations, which were first raised internally in 2021 and were thoroughly investigated by Leonteq's Compliance department," the company said in a statement.

"This investigation found no evidence that would corroborate the suspicions raised."

An investigation by EY found "no indication" to justify the allegations of money laundering or tax evasion, Leonteq added.

The company said both internal and external legal and compliance specialists had also concluded the filing of a Suspicious Activity Report to alert law enforcers was not warranted.

EY said on Tuesday it could not comment on specific client matters.

Leonteq also gave a business update, saying it was on track to meet its previously announced guidance of exceeding the prior year's record group net profit of 155.7 million Swiss francs ($156.2 million) for the current financial year.

($1 = 0.9966 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Noele IllienEditing by John Revill and Mark Potter)