Credit Suisse Pays $536 Million to Settle U.S. Inquiry They referred to banks with code names like "Iron" and "Wood." Sometimes they just used initials. For nearly two decades, employees of Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-largest bank after UBS, helped their clients in Iran and other countries avoid sanctions by concealing their identities when they did business with the United States, federal and New York State authorities said at separate news conferences on Wednesday. Credit Suisse ended the practicing of helping its clients skirt sanctions in 2006 and agreed to pay federal and state authorities $536 million to settle the charges. "Credit Suisse abused its standing as a leader in international banking by intentionally processing these illegal payments through U.S. banks," Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, told reporters in his office. The announcement was the culmination of a two-year joint investigation by Mr. Morgenthau's office, and the Justice Department and Treasury Department. Credit Suisse routinely manipulated wire transfer orders to conceal their origins, the authorities said. From 2002 to 2006, the Swiss bank processed more than $700 million worth of payments through the United States for banks banned from doing business in the country, the authorities said. In addition to Iran, the banks were from Libya and Sudan, the authorities said. Mr. Morgenthau said investigators found another $1.1 billion worth of transactions dating back to the late 1980s for Iranian banks that were not necessarily subject to sanctions. The money will be split evenly among the federal authorities and Mr. Morgenthau's office. It was the second settlement this year that resulted from a joint investigation with the Manhattan district attorney's office and federal authorities. In January, the British bank Lloyds TSB Group agreed to pay $350 million after admitting to helping illicitly funnel money from Iran and other countries through American banks. Why would a bank like Lloyds or Credit Suisse risk this? Mr. Morgenthau said. They were making money on the deposits put in their bank by the Iranian banks. That's the incentive.