Category Archives: Credit Suisse

UBS to make $35bn in Credit Suisse takeover – but lose $17bn in rushed deal

Posted on by

UBS says it will absorb costs related to litigation, regulatory matters and liability adjustments in emergency rescue

UBS is in line to make an almost $35bn (£28bn) gain after its emergency takeover of Credit Suisse – but has said it will take a $17bn hit from costs related to the rushed rescue deal.

The Swiss lender has said it will make gains of $34.8bn after taking on Credit Suisse, based on an initial assessment of data until the end of last year, according to a regulatory filing. The accounting gain will be one of the biggest ever reported by a bank in a single quarter.

Continue reading...

Credit Suisse says £55bn left bank in lead-up to rescue by UBS

Posted on by

Results reported for what is likely to be the last time as lender’s takeover by Swiss rival nears completion

Credit Suisse said customers pulled more than 61bn Swiss francs (£55bn) worth of assets from the bank at the start of the year, laying bare the scale of the panic that contributed to its failure and emergency takeover by its rival UBS last month.

The Swiss lender said the “significant withdrawals” were partly to blame for its poor financial performance in the first quarter, with its adjusted pre-tax loss ballooning to 1.3bn Swiss francs for the first three months of the year. That compares with a profit of 300m Swiss francs during the same period in 2022.

Continue reading...

Credit Suisse investors suing Swiss regulator after £4bn bond wipeout

Posted on by

Finma accused of acting unlawfully and undermining confidence in Switzerland as a financial centre

A group of Credit Suisse investors who lost bonds worth more than CHF 4.5bn (£4bn) are suing Switzerland’s financial regulator over a decision to wipe out risky bank debt after an emergency merger with UBS last month.

The investors filed their claim at a court in St Gallen, in the north-east of Switzerland, weeks after Swiss authorities orchestrated the takeover of Credit Suisse by its larger rival UBS, to try to stem a crisis of confidence in the global banking sector.

Continue reading...

Furious Credit Suisse investors say bank’s board should be ‘put behind bars’

Posted on by

Shareholders lash out during final AGM as boss apologises for crisis that led to takeover of lender by UBS

Furious Credit Suisse investors at its final ever annual meeting blocked executive pay plans and called for board members to be “put behind bars”, as the Swiss lender’s chair said he was “truly sorry” over the bank’s demise.

Shareholders used most of the nearly five-hour annual general meeting in Zurich – the last in the 167-year-old bank’s history – to voice fury over poor management, hitting out at excessive pay for “incompetent and greedy” bankers who they said took too many risks and endangered Switzerland’s economic prosperity.

Continue reading...

Switzerland’s attorney general to investigate Credit Suisse takeover

Posted on by

Inquiry to focus on whether emergency state-backed UBS takeover breached criminal law

Switzerland’s federal prosecutor has launched an investigation into whether last month’s state-backed takeover of the stricken bank Credit Suisse by its bigger rival UBS broke Swiss criminal law.

The office of the attorney general said it was looking into potential breaches by government officials, regulators and executives at the two banks who thrashed out an emergency merger over a frantic weekend in mid-March to prevent a wider financial meltdown.

Continue reading...

Saudi National Bank chair resigns after Credit Suisse comments

Posted on by

Ammar Al Khudairy’s remarks about Swiss lender spurred investor panic that led to emergency takeover

The chair of the Saudi National Bank has resigned for “personal reasons” less than two weeks after his comments spurred investor panic over Credit Suisse that ended in an emergency takeover by its larger Swiss rival, UBS.

The Saudi National Bank (SNB), which was Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder, announced on Monday that it had “accepted” Ammar Al Khudairy’s resignation, and that he would be immediately replaced by its chief executive.

Continue reading...

Head of Credit Suisse talks of his profound sadness over UBS takeover

Posted on by

Ulrich Körner acknowledges an ‘emotional and challenging week’ after deal was forced through by Swiss authorities

The chief executive of stricken Credit Suisse has said that he shares its employees’ “profound sadness and disappointment” after its emergency takeover by rival UBS earlier this week.

UBS took over Credit Suisse on Sunday in a £2.65bn deal forced through by Swiss authorities amid fears that a failure to protect depositors would kickstart a global banking crisis.

Continue reading...

UK and US shares climb as banks and ministers aim to calm Credit Suisse fears

Posted on by

FTSE 100 rises and European banking shares are up after early jitters over what UBS takeover deal means for bondholders

Stocks climbed on Monday in London and New York after central bankers and politicians sought to soothe jitters triggered by the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse during the weekend.

Central banks in the UK and eurozone issued statements aimed at reassuring investors that – unlike the controversial approach taken by the Swiss authorities in the Credit Suisse deal – their jurisdictions would follow a hierarchy in which equity holders would lose out before bond holders.

Continue reading...

UBS agrees takeover of stricken Credit Suisse for $3.25bn

Posted on by

Swiss government forces through takeover at well below market value amid fears of global banking crisis

The Swiss government has forced through the takeover of stricken bank Credit Suisse by rival UBS for almost $3.25bn (£2.65bn) – well below its market value – amid fears that a failure to protect depositors would trigger a new global banking crisis.

After a weekend of frantic talks, the Swiss government and the banking regulator brokered a deal once it became clear a $54bn loan to Credit Suisse from the Swiss central bank had failed to halt the precipitous slide in its share price.

Continue reading...

Credit Suisse shares continue to fall despite efforts to calm nerves

Posted on by

Lifelines handed to Swiss bank and US regional bank First Republic fail to ease investor concerns

Credit Suisse shares came under renewed pressure on Friday, despite fresh attempts by central banks and politicians to calm fears about a crisis in the global banking industry sparked by the collapse of two US banks this week.

Shares in Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second largest bank, fell 8% on Friday despite securing a £45bn emergency loan from the Swiss National Bank just days earlier to shore up its liquidity after a week of panic.

Continue reading...

ECB raises eurozone interest rate despite banking sector fears

Posted on by

Concerns half-point could set off domino effect across financial industry knocked by Credit Suisse crisis

The European Central Bank has raised interest rates across the eurozone by 0.5 percentage points, despite fears that higher borrowing costs could set off a domino effect across a banking sector already reeling from a collapse in confidence in Switzerland’s second largest lender, Credit Suisse.

Officials at the ECB, the central bank covering the 19-member euro bloc, said inflation was likely to remain high “for too long”, forcing it to continue with its planned run of rate increases.

Continue reading...

ECB faces dilemma over interest rate rise amid Credit Suisse crisis

Posted on by

European Central Bank could opt for smaller increase as concerns spread over health of banking system

The European Central Bank is facing a dilemma over whether to push ahead with its plans for a large interest rise on Thursday amid fears over the strength of the banking system after Wednesday’s heavy sell-off of the Swiss banking firm Credit Suisse.

After raising interest rates since last summer at a record pace to tackle high inflation across the eurozone, the ECB had in effect committed to another 0.5 percentage point increase in borrowing costs this week.

Continue reading...

Credit Suisse takes $54bn loan from Swiss central bank after share price plunge

Posted on by

After largest shareholder was unable to provide backing, Europe’s 17th largest lender says it will use government help to become ‘simpler and more focused’

Credit Suisse has announced that it will take a CHF50bn ($53.7bn) loan from the Swiss central bank, in an action it says will “pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity” as it moves to stem a crisis of confidence a day after its share price plummeted.

This additional liquidity would support the bank in taking the “necessary steps to create a simpler and more focused bank built around client needs”, its statement said. The bank said it was also making buyback offers on about $3bn worth of debt.

Continue reading...

SVB collapse may be start of ‘slow rolling crisis’, warns BlackRock boss

Posted on by

Larry Fink tells investors more ‘shutdowns and seizures’ in US possible and predicts inflation and interest rates to rise

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank could just be the start of “a “slow rolling crisis” in the US financial system with “more seizures and shutdowns coming”, the chief executive of the world’s largest asset manager has warned.

The CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink, also predicted in a letter to investors and company bosses that inflation would persist and rates continue to rise, trends that both contributed to SVB’s collapse.

Continue reading...

Credit Suisse warns of ‘material weaknesses’ in financial reporting

Posted on by

Swiss bank’s shares fall as annual report reveals another blow to its bid to recover from string of scandals

Credit Suisse has said it found “material weaknesses” in its financial reporting controls and that clients were still withdrawing cash, the latest blow to the Swiss bank as it tries to recover from a string of scandals.

The bank’s shares fell as much as 5% on Tuesday, dropping as low as 2.12 Swiss francs – close to the record low on Monday – before recovering some ground to be down 1.7%. Credit Suisse’s bonds also weakened to record lows on Tuesday, after comments in its delayed annual report.

Continue reading...

Credit Suisse to cut 9,000 jobs and seek billions in new investment

Posted on by

Shake-up aims to draw line under series of scandals and new £3.5bn loss at Swiss bank

Credit Suisse has disclosed sweeping plans to cut 9,000 jobs and raise billions of pounds from investors in a Saudi-led funding round, as part of a company-wide overhaul meant to draw a line under a series of scandals and help it recover from a £3.5bn loss.

The announcement follows months of speculation over the scale of change scheduled under its new boss, Ulrich Körner, who has been tasked with scaling back the investment bank and slashing costs.

Continue reading...

Credit Suisse puts Zurich hotel up for sale in urgent liquidity dash

Posted on by

Ailing Swiss bank’s share price has collapsed after being hit by series of crises

Credit Suisse, the investment bank whose shares plummeted to record lows this week over fears it could be on the brink of collapse, is selling the five-star Savoy hotel in the centre of Zurich for as much as 400m Swiss francs (£361m).

The bank, whose stock has fallen by more than 40% in the past six months, said on Thursday it had put the 184-year-old hotel on Paradeplatz in the heart of the city’s financial district on the market as part of a regular review of its global real estate assets.

Continue reading...

Cost of insuring against Credit Suisse defaulting reaches record high

Posted on by

Investors rush to buy credit default swaps as worries grow over solidity of bank’s balance sheet

The cost of buying insurance against Credit Suisse defaulting on its debt soared to a record high on Monday, amid fears on markets about the solidity of the balance sheet at the globally significant Swiss bank.

There was a sell-off in the bank’s shares and bonds while investors rushed instead to buy credit default swaps (CDS) – insurance against the bank failing to meet its debts.

Continue reading...

Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance fails to get winding-up order thrown out

Posted on by

Credit Suisse, one of Gupta’s main creditors, started insolvency hearings against GFG companies last month

Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance has failed in an attempt to have a winding-up order thrown out on the grounds that the metals group’s struggles were caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Credit Suisse, one of Gupta’s main creditors, started insolvency hearings against GFG companies last month, in a move that raised concerns for the jobs of 35,000 workers in the UK and in operations around the world. US bank Citibank has brought the claim on behalf of Credit Suisse, its client.

Continue reading...

London’s National Gallery under pressure over links to Credit Suisse

Posted on by

Questions raised over sponsorship of exhibitions by scandal-hit Swiss bank

The National Gallery’s partnership with Credit Suisse has been thrown into question after leaked documents revealed the hidden wealth of the bank’s criminal clients, including drug traffickers, money launderers and corrupt politicians.

Credit Suisse, headquartered in Zurich, has sponsored the National Gallery since 2008 in one of the UK’s biggest arts funding deals. The partnership, renewed in 2020 and due to run until at least 2024, means Credit Suisse’s name is linked to exhibitions for artists from Raphael and Monet to Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.

Continue reading...