Credit Etti was a Corporate Sector investment bank and financial services company, which became one of the most widely used and influential financial institutions in the Outer Rim Territories by the rise of the Galactic Empire. It was based out the city of Mondder on Etti IV, capital of the Corporate Sector Authority. Around the time of the Battle of Endor Credit Etti also began to provide services in the Core Worlds and other regions of the galaxy, becoming regarded as a "Bulge Bracket Bank." Credit Etti gained a reputation for its strict rules regarding banking secrecy and client privacy.
It was established in 490 BBY to raise funding for the Corporate Sector Authority's exploration of their new territory, as well as to start up new companies in the region. Much of the revenue that Credit Etti received initially was from facilitating the trade that went on in the Corporate Sector, but as the businesses in the sector expanded it began primarily providing asset management and retail banking for corporate and state clients. Due to a new regulation passed by the CSA in 50 BBY, Credit Etti became—alongside CSB Group—the largest investment bank in the Corporate Sector with a legally-sanctioned monopoly on private market activity. It also maintained underground gold and other asset vaults at unknown locations somewhere on Etti IV.
History[]
Originally the company was established to organize funding for the various companies that made up the Corporate Sector Authority when it was founded in 490 BBY. Credit Etti was intended to raise funds for the Authority's new development projects, and much of its revenue came from the trade that the Corporate Sector engaged in. Among the unstable and lawless Outer Rim, Credit Etti quickly became one of the most reliable and strictly regulated banks, being in the secure Corporate Sector, which came to be valued by beings living in the tumultuous region. It was not long before the new bank gained a reputation as the largest and most successful bank and holdings company in the Outer Rim.
During the Clone Wars the majority of the CSA supported the Confederacy of Independent Systems. While most other Separatist corporations were nationalized or sold off to loyal companies after the Declaration of a New Order, the CSA made an agreement with the new Emperor using its loyalist companies that had maintained contacts with him during the war. Credit Etti was able to benefit from the nationalization of the financial sector and managed to avoid being swallowed by the new Bank of the Empire, the Imperial central bank, unlike many of its competitors.
During the Imperial era it further expanded its control and influence to fill the void left by the fall of the InterGalactic Banking Clan and others.
From around 7 ABY until 8 ABY, after Warlord Zsinj conquered the Corporate Sector, it was claimed by the New Republic Intelligence Service in a report to the Senate that Credit Etti provided the financial backing for Zsinj's Empire as part of a deal between him and the CSA. These claims were denied by the bank.
Shortly after the campaign against the resurrected Emperor Palpatine, the New Republic—attempting to improve its own financial situation in the aftermath of the devastating war—forced Credit Etti to pay 200 billion credits as compensation for alleged tax evasion by account holders, being accused of helping Core Worlds residents avoid taxes.
Behind the scenes[]
The name is based on the real bank Credit Suisse.
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