Switzerland

Some bankers and traders are grappling with how to interact with Credit Suisse across various markets including debt and foreign exchange, with some increasing scrutiny when dealing with the Swiss bank or its products, sources said. On Sunday, UBS offered to pay CHF 3 billion ($3.23 billion) for Credit Suisse, a hastily-agreed merger engineered by Swiss authorities following a scramble to save the bank, Reuters reported.

The Swiss National Bank raised its interest rate by 50 basis points and signaled more to come as it resumed its inflation fight just days after the downfall of the country’s second-biggest bank became the epicenter of global financial turmoil, Bloomberg News reported. Officials lifted the benchmark to 1.5%, an outcome predicted by most economists before Credit Suisse Group AG’s forced takeover by larger rival UBS Group AG clouded the outlook with worsened market turbulence earlier this week.

The chairman of Switzerland’s largest bank received an urgent call last week. On the other end were three top Swiss officials who delivered an ultimatum dressed up as a proposal. UBS Group AG needed to rescue its failing rival, Credit Suisse Group AG. For any country, it would be a financial emergency. For Switzerland, the stakes verged on existential, the Wall Street Journal reported. Its economic model and national identity, cultivated over centuries, were built on safeguarding the world’s wealth. It wasn’t just about a bank. Switzerland itself needed rescuing.

Switzerland’s tab for shoring up its reputation as a financial center could run to 12,500 Swiss francs ($13,500) for every man, woman and child in the country, Bloomberg News reported. To backstop the emergency sale of Credit Suisse Group AG to its Zurich rival UBS Group AG, the Swiss government pledged to make as much as 109 billion francs available — a hefty burden for the country of 8.7 million people. On top of that, there’s a guarantee from the Swiss National Bank of 100 billion francs that isn’t backed by a government guarantee, according to the deal announced Sunday evening.

Some holders of Credit Suisse Group AG's so-called additional tier 1 (AT1) bonds have approached a law firm to assess whether they have a case against the Swiss authorities’ decision to wipe out their holdings as part of the UBS Group AG deal, Reuters reported. George Zelcs and Chris Burke, partners at Korein Tillery, a boutique law firm specializing in complex litigation, said fewer than a dozen non-U.S. bondholders had approached them to discuss options. The firm has not yet been hired.

Days before a hastily convened press conference late on Sunday that would make the world's front pages, Switzerland's political elite were secretly preparing a move that would jolt the globe, Reuters reported. While the nation's central bank and financial regulator publicly declared that Credit Suisse was sound, behind closed doors the race was on to rescue the nation's second-biggest bank.

Credit Suisse and UBS could benefit from more than 260 billion Swiss francs ($280 billion) in state and central bank support, a third of the country's gross domestic product, as part of their merger to buffer Switzerland against global financial turmoil, documents outlining the deal show, Reuters reported. Swiss authorities announced on Sunday that UBS had agreed to buy rival Swiss bank Credit Suisse in a shotgun merger aimed at avoiding more market-shaking turmoil in global banking.

Some of the world's largest central banks came together on Sunday to stop a banking crisis from spreading as Swiss authorities persuaded UBS Group AG on Sunday to buy rival Credit Suisse Group AG in a historic deal, Reuters reported. UBS will pay 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) for 167-year-old Credit Suisse and assume up to $5.4 billion in losses in a deal backed by a massive Swiss guarantee and expected to close by the end of 2023. Soon after the announcement late on Sunday, the U.S.

Credit Suisse said today that it would borrow up to $54 billion from Switzerland's central bank to shore up liquidity and investor confidence, after a slump in its shares had intensified fears about a global banking crisis, Reuters reported. The bank's announcement prompted a 24% rise in Credit Suisse shares and helped reverse some of the heavy losses on stock markets driven by investor fears over potential bank runs across the world.

Credit Suisse shares slumped by as much as 30% on Wednesday after its largest shareholder said it could not provide further support, prompting the Swiss bank's CEO to make new assurances on its financial strength, Reuters reported. Saudi National Bank, which holds 9.88% of Credit Suisse, said it would not buy more shares on regulatory grounds. Shares in Credit Suisse, which is battling to recover from a string of scandals that have undermined the confidence of investors and clients, were down about 17% in early afternoon trading, after shedding as much as 30% to a new record low.