The last ten years of Credit Suisse in fast motion
Published: Tuesday, Dec 10th 2024, 13:20
Updated At: Friday, Dec 20th 2024, 04:41
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UBS took over the major bank Credit Suisse almost two years ago. After a turbulent past, this meant the end for the bank. A chronology of significant events before and after the forced merger:
- 2015: Group CEO Brady Dougan steps down after eight years as CEO and 25 years in total at Credit Suisse (CS). Tidjane Thiam becomes the new boss. He restructures the bank and carries out two billion-euro capital increases. CS posts a net loss of CHF 2.9 billion for 2015 as a whole due to high value adjustments.
- February 7, 2020: Group CEO Tidjane Thiam resigns due to the shadowing of several top managers by the bank. His successor as CEO is the then CS Switzerland boss Thomas Gottstein.
- March 5, 2021: CS announces the dissolution of four "supply chain finance funds". It had worked with Australian financier Lex Greensill on these funds, which filed for insolvency. At the time, the funds had investor assets of around 10 billion US dollars. Of this, 3.1 billion was initially repaid to the investors.
- March 29, 2021: The US hedge fund Archegos collapses and can no longer meet its obligations to CS and other banks. CS's result is impacted by a total of CHF 5 billion.
- April 30, 2021: Urs Rohner, CS Chairman for many years, steps down. CS shareholders elect Portuguese bank manager António Horta-Osório as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of the big bank.
- January 17, 2022: Horta-Osório announces his resignation as Chairman of the CS Board of Directors. Previously, two violations of coronavirus quarantine requirements by Horta-Osório in Switzerland and the UK had come to light. Former UBS banker Axel Lehmann takes over as Chairman of the Board of Directors in his place.
- February 10, 2022: For the fourth quarter of 2021, the bank makes a value adjustment in the billions for a US investment bank purchased more than twenty years ago. Loss of CHF 1.6 billion for 2021 as a whole.
- July 27, 2022: CEO Thomas Gottstein resigns with the announcement of another billion-euro loss for the second quarter. Ulrich Körner, who previously headed the Asset Management division, is appointed as the new Group CEO.
- October 27, 2022: The bank announces a restructuring and a capital increase of CHF 4 billion. The loss-making investment bank is to be downsized. Credit Suisse brings Saudi National Bank on board as a new investor.
- November 23, 2022: Credit Suisse confirms massive outflows of money from its clients. These started back in October, when rumors of the bank's imbalance were circulated on social media. In the fourth quarter as a whole, clients withdrew around 110 billion francs, or around 8 percent of assets under management, from the bank.
- February 9, 2023: The bank reports a loss of CHF 7.3 billion for the 2022 financial year, the highest loss since the financial crisis. CS predicts another year of losses for 2023.
- March 6, 2023: The long-standing major shareholder Harris Associates sells all its shares in CS.
- March 15, 2023: In an interview, Ammar Al Khudairy, Chairman of Saudi National Bank, a major shareholder of CS, rules out any further financial support from CS.
- March 16, 2023: Credit Suisse borrows up to CHF 50 billion from the Swiss National Bank. Together with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority Finma, the SNB emphasizes that the big bank meets the capital and liquidity requirements for systemically important banks.
- March 19, 2023: The Federal Council, authorities and banks announce the takeover of CS by UBS. The takeover came about after intensive negotiations over a weekend. In addition to representatives of the two banks, Federal Councillors, the Swiss National Bank and the Financial Market Supervisory Authority were involved. UBS pays around CHF 3 billion in UBS shares for the takeover of its competitor. The National Bank is providing liquidity assistance totaling CHF 200 billion, and the Confederation is providing guarantees of CHF 9 billion for UBS. In total, the Confederation is committing CHF 109 billion to the deal. The parliamentary finance delegation gives the green light.
- March 29, 2023: Sergio Ermotti becomes CEO of UBS again.
- April 5, 2023: The Federal Council cancels or reduces the outstanding bonuses of the three top management levels at CS. Around a thousand employees are affected. The bank must also examine whether bonuses that have already been paid out can be reclaimed.
- April 11, 2024: The extraordinary session of the Swiss parliament on the emergency takeover of CS by UBS begins. The National Council refuses to subsequently approve the Confederation's obligations of CHF 109 billion; the Council of States approves them. Parliament's no vote has no immediate consequences. The Councils are also debating requests to the Federal Council to review the application of emergency law and the "too big to fail" rules.
- June 8, 2023: A parliamentary commission of inquiry (PUK) investigates the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS at the will of Parliament. The PUK is chaired by Isabelle Chassot, a member of the Council of States from Fribourg.
- June 12, 2023: UBS formally completes the CS acquisition. This marks the end of the bank's 167-year history. CS shares are traded on the Swiss stock exchange for the last time. The last price is 81.7 centimes per share. In 2007, before the financial crisis, the share price peaked at over 95 francs.
- August 4, 2023: The Federal Administrative Court in St. Gallen has received 3,000 complaints or collective appeals against the write-off of subordinated AT1 bonds worth around CHF 16 billion. This write-down was ordered by FINMA. The owners of the bonds are demanding that the federal government be liable for their losses.
- August 11, 2023: UBS terminates all federal guarantees totaling CHF 109 billion without the Confederation having to bear any losses from the obligations. The Confederation and the SNB receive over CHF 700 million from guarantees, risk premiums and interest. Around CHF 200 million of this will go to the Confederation.
- August 31, 2023: Management decides to merge the Swiss business of UBS and CS. This is likely to lead to 3,000 redundancies. Until the very end, many still hoped that the "Credit Suisse" brand could survive in some form - as an independent CS Switzerland, for example.
- September 6, 2023: The Federal Council wants to enshrine the Public Liquidity Backstop (PLB) in law. Its proposals are before Parliament. During the emergency takeover of CS, the Federal Council applied emergency law and enacted the PLB by ordinance. It was thus able to secure aid from the National Bank.
- November 7, 2023: The major bank UBS reports stabilization in the CS business and already high cost savings with the results for the third quarter of 2023.
- February 4, 2024: In a newspaper interview, former Finance Minister Ueli Maurer defends his decision not to intervene in Credit Suisse at the end of 2022, saying that a rescue by the state was not realistic and a bankruptcy of CS was unrealistic. He referred to the bank's equity capital.
- February 6, 2024: UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti announces the closure of numerous branches. There are currently still around 190 UBS branches and around 95 CS branches in Switzerland.
- February 17, 2024: The Zurich Commercial Court receives over 30 complaints regarding the financial terms of the CS takeover. The Anlegerschutzverein represents around 1,500 small CS shareholders, Legalpass over 3,000 shareholders. They are demanding better compensation for the CS shares sold to UBS.
- April 10, 2024: Clearer allocation of responsibilities, more powers for financial market supervision, more crisis-proof resolution plans: the Federal Council wants to prevent a second CS case with a 22-point plan, as it writes in its report on banking stability. Generally speaking, higher capital requirements and a ban on bonuses are out of the question.
- October 15, 2024: UBS has to revise its emergency plans for restructuring and liquidation due to the takeover of Credit Suisse. The authorities are to be given additional options in the event of a crisis. The financial market supervisory authority Finma found that there were obstacles in the assessment of UBS's ability to be restructured and liquidated due to the integration of CS.
- December 20, 2024: The PUK informs the public about the conclusion of its investigation.
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