The U.S. Labor Department faces Capitol Hill pressure to think twice before letting Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) continue managing pension-fund assets after it helped Americans evade taxes. 

Congressional Democrats Maxine Waters, Stephen F. Lynch and George Miller sent a letter to the department yesterday asking it to “seriously consider” whether the bank deserves a waiver it needs to remain a qualified professional asset manager, a key designation for overseeing U.S. pension money. The lawmakers said they’re concerned that banks aren’t being punished enough for scandals ranging from interest-rate manipulation to tax evasion. 

“While law enforcement has tallied up record monetary settlements in response to this conduct, we remain concerned that our regulators are not using the full arsenal of tools available to protect the public and retirees from bad actors and to ensure that criminal behavior is appropriately deterred,” said the representatives, who asked the Labor Department to hold a hearing on Credit Suisse’s waiver request. 

Credit Suisse oversees billions of dollars of assets for more than 100 pension plans, according to a July court filing by the Zurich-based bank. If the Labor Department declines its waiver request, Credit Suisse will lose its status as a qualified asset manager on its sentencing date, which is scheduled for Nov. 21. 

Labor Review 

Credit Suisse spokeswoman Suzanne Fleming had no immediate comment on the letter. The Labor Department is reviewing the lawmakers’ request, said spokesman Michael Trupo. 

Credit Suisse agreed in May to pay $2.6 billion in penalties and plead guilty to helping clients cheat on their taxes, making it the first global bank in a decade to admit to a crime in a U.S. courtroom. 

Its sentencing was originally set for August. The judge overseeing the case granted Credit Suisse a three-month delay after the bank said in a court filing that it needed more time to obtain the Labor Department waiver. 

If it isn’t granted before the sentencing date, counterparties will face financial penalties that will cause them to stop doing business with Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank said in the filing. Credit Suisse’s asset-management units rely on the qualified asset manager status to engage in bond and currency trading, derivatives contracts and other transactions, according to the filing. 

Since 1997, the Labor Department has “reportedly” granted waivers for all 23 firms that have sought one, Waters, Lynch and Miller wrote in their letter. They said it undermines asset managers’ incentives to obey the law “when the department simply waives the disqualification provisions on a seemingly automatic basis.”