Credit Suisse Group AG is in talks with the US Justice Department to pay as much as $1.6 billion to resolve an investigation into the bank's role in helping Americans evade US taxes, a person familiar with the matter said.

Prosecutors have also been pushing for Credit Suisse to plead guilty in connection with the probe, two people with knowledge of the talks said.

The penalty would exceed the 895 million Swiss francs ($1 billion) that Credit Suisse has set aside to pay potential penalties to the US.

It's also much tougher than the settlement the Justice Department reached in 2009 with Credit Suisse's hometown rival UBS AG, which was also accused of helping Americans dodge taxes. In that settlement, UBS paid $780 million to settle similar charges.

Shares in Credit Suisse fell by nearly 1 percent by 6:00 am.